Manzor Blue is set for the 28 November Sandown Cup after finishing second in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington, LOVERACING.NZ reported on 9 November. The planned Australian staying race gives the New Zealand-trained mare another chance to build on a placing that her connections regard as an important step.
Flemington placing leads to another staying test
The Lisa Latta-trained mare was runner-up to Pinhole at Flemington on Saturday. LOVERACING.NZ's 9 November report said the result brought Manzor Blue Australian black type over 2,600 metres, despite her missing a place in the Melbourne Cup field. Go Racing, the New Zealand syndicator behind her, has now identified the Listed Sandown Cup as the final race of her spring campaign.
“We are absolutely over the moon,” Go Racing’s General Manager Matt Allnutt told LOVERACING.NZ after the Flemington placing. He said Manzor Blue would go to the Sandown Cup and the team would take stock afterwards. That makes Sandown the immediate plan. It does not confirm an entry or a result in a race that has yet to take place.
Allnutt said the Flemington performance showed that Manzor Blue's New Zealand staying form could carry into Australian competition. He pointed particularly to her finish after the race was run at a strong gallop. Her second place delivered the Group Three placing that the team had targeted as a fallback when a Melbourne Cup start did not materialise.
New Zealand form and an independent result check
According to LOVERACING.NZ's 9 November report, Manzor Blue won the Wellington Cup and placed second in the Auckland Cup earlier this year. Go Racing began to consider a Melbourne Cup campaign after those results. The Sandown Cup is scheduled over 3,200 metres, longer than the 2,600-metre Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington. After the Sandown race, the team may decide on its next campaign. SportsRivo compared LOVERACING.NZ's account with Racing.com's 7 November report; both agree that Manzor Blue placed second to Pinhole in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Racing.com reports that Pinhole won by two and three-quarter lengths. Its independent report confirms the result of Manzor Blue's Flemington race, while Go Racing's new Sandown plan remains a future target. Whether Manzor Blue wins the Sandown race will only be known after it takes place.
What the plan means for Manzor Blue
- Go Racing has a further Australian staying target for Manzor Blue after her Flemington placing, rather than ending her spring with the Melbourne Cup omission.
- The Sandown Cup is scheduled over 3,200 metres on 28 November, according to LOVERACING.NZ's 9 November report. That would return the mare to the distance at which she won the Wellington Cup.
- A Sydney Cup attempt in the autumn and another Melbourne Cup campaign remain possibilities raised by Allnutt, dependent on what the team learns from Sandown.
The next confirmed step
LOVERACING.NZ's 9 November report names the Sandown Cup on 28 November as the next target. Allnutt said Go Racing would take stock after that race before deciding its longer-term programme, so the proposed Sydney and Melbourne Cup routes should be read as intentions rather than fixed starts.
Source: New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing