With feature cups at Moe today, Avoca tomorrow (Saturday,19 October) and at Horsham on Sunday (20 October), the race to secure a berth in next month’s $500,000 Victoria Country Cups Series Final (2000m) at Caulfield is picking up rapidly.
The $130,000 Ladbrokes Moe Cup (2050m) at 4.50pm today will be an intriguing event with a field of previous Country Cups winners and placegetters, along with representatives from Australia’s biggest stables in Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher.
The Gavin Bedggood-trained Keats is the highest-placed horse on the Country Cups Series leaderboard, currently sitting at 16th. The popular eight-year-old will be one to watch in his first Country Cups start since winning the 2023 TAB Werribee Cup (1600m).
In-form training duo Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young have just the one Country Cups contender this weekend, with Sunsets aiming to improve on his last start third place in the Murtoa Cup at Moe today.
The Busuttin and Young-trained Suizuro took out last year’s Moe Cup, so the Cranbourne-based trainers will be looking to secure a consecutive victory this year and springboard a second horse into the top 16 on the series leaderboard with Suizuro currently seventh.
Maher will have two chances for country cups success this weekend, fielding Kettle Hill at Moe and Commander Harry in the $60,000 Millers Horsham Cup (2100m) on Sunday.
Ben, Will and JD Hayes also have entries in at Moe and Horsham, with Independent Road and Dublin Journal, respectively. Independent Road was the winner of the 2023 Community Bank Ballan & District Ballan Cup (1512m) and will be among the favoured runners at Moe today.
Waller has Mr Waterville, a fourth placegetter in last year’s bet365 Geelong Cup (2400m), entered at Moe as connections chase the import’s first win on Australian shores.
Tomorrow’s $30,000 Blue Pyrenees Estate Avoca Cup (1860m) will introduce some new names to the Victorian Country Cups leaderboard with none of the entries yet to taste Country Cups success in 2023-24.
Stawell trainer Dane Smith is well-positioned to make a statement in the Cup with two entries. Veteran gelding Boss Coni, who placed fourth in last week’s Manangatang Cup, is the only horse already on the Country Cups Leaderboard with a third-place finish in the DMD Nhill Cup (1650m) on Boxing Day last year.
Smith’s nine-year-old mare There For You will be racing in her first Country Cup this year. She resumes from a lengthy spell having last raced in the Haymes Paint Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool last December.
Another trainer from the local region, Grampians-based Andrew Bobbin, will figure prominently with Miss Bariloche, whilst the Henry Dwyer-trained Almonti is among the other leading chances.
The $60,000 Millers Horsham Cup (2100m) will see the top-of-the-leaderboard Station One (Liam Howley) defend his standing against a field of 11 rivals.
Station One has collected 19 points across the Victorian Country Cups Series after victories in the Ecycle Solutions Murtoa Cup (2050m), bet365 Traralgon Cup (1900m) and William Thomson Dunkeld Cup (1800m), along with placings in the Bet365 Coleraine Cup (1800m), Seppelt Great Western Cup (1950m) and Mac's Hotel Woodford Cup (1700m) in an amazing season.
Grand Pierro, who finished fourth in the inaugural Victorian Country Cups Series Final in 2023, is among his rivals at Horsham. The Jason Warren-trained Grand Pierro, who won the 2023 Bet365 Ararat Gold Cup (2200m), will be chasing success after failing to gain a start in last week’s Seymour Cup (1600m) when emergency.
Cranbourne-based trainer David Noonan has two horses accepted in the Horsham Cup, with Lottaroc and Cadre Du Noir, although the latter is also an acceptor in today’s Moe Cup.
South Australian trainer Lindsay Cadzow could also potentially have two runners in the Horsham Cup with gelding Space Equity and mare Sharma Princess (emergency) both accepted to run. Space Equity entered the Country Cups leaderboard after running third in the Bet365 Apsley Cup (2000m) earlier this year.
The Victorian Country Cups Final at Caulfield on Saturday, 16 November will be a Benchmark 100 Handicap featuring a field of 16 starters (plus four emergencies) with a minimum topweight of 62kg at the declaration of weights.
The winners of each country cup collect five points in the series, with two points awarded to the runner-up and third place receiving one point. In the event of a dead-heat, the points are not shared with each horse receiving the full quota for first, second or third.
To view the current Victorian Country Cups Series leaderboard, please click here.
Following the Moe, Avoca and Horsham Cups, the next qualifying races will be the Ladbrokes Geelong Cup (Wednesday, 23 October), the St Arnaud Cup (Saturday, 26 October) and the Sale Cup (Sunday, 27 October).