Grey Lion

Strong looking specimen

I doubt he will stay the 2 miles.

reductio ad absurdum

djebel wrote:

I doubt he will stay the 2 miles.

I concur with this comment, he'll be an 'also-ran' in the Melb Cup.

He would be better off in shorter staying races like QE Stakes or Sandown Classic.

But OTI won't be able to resist running him in the Mel Cup and it will also boost Matt Cumani's profile to have a Cup runner.

And they only ran .1 of a second slower than the Caulfield cup .....

Look what they did with Brambles, they were told not to race him, they did, he was beaten by the last turn and it pretty much cooked his career.

Also it's big for OTI to have runners in the cup, it's great for attracting people into their syndicates, what horse owner, a mug owner or a serious one, doesn't want a runner in the Melbourne Cup?

Doesn't matter if its a 100-1 shot, i mean aside from what POP did, having been to Melbourne Cup day before, aside from all the PEOPLE, so many PEOPLE, it's something else altogether.

speedingaway wrote:

OTI would run a broomstick in the Melbourne Cup if it was qualified

RUSCELLO is a prime example of OTI's agenda. This handy imported stayer wins the Hotham Hcp on Derby Day and his UK trainer Ed Walker recommends that the horse miss the Melb Cup as he didnt think the horse was capable of backing up so soon.

OTI ignore the trainers advice, run him and he runs 23rd beaten 56 lengths. The horse is basically wrecked by OTI and in 5 more career starts he runs last or near last every time.

going to run in the Ballarat Cup on Sat 19th

Had every possible

I’m really glad Matt Cumani has got him back into good form this Spring. After his poor form in the autumn, I really thought the horse was cooked.

He probably doesn’t quite stay out much past 2400m. But hopefully Matt can win a race here in Australia with him.

Lay of the day

Magnolian Khan wrote:

Lay of the day

Might have got beaten but showed good heart to tough it out for yet another placing.

Must be frustrating for Matt Cumani in trying to get a win out of him.

Are there any more suitable races for him over the next month?

Bad news...... he’s been gelded

He has gone right off the boil since being gelded.

reductio ad absurdum

You ripper, good effort.

Is Grey Lion better the Sydney way of going? That seems to be the case after the six-year-old stuck his neck out to beat Braces over 2400m at Royal Randwick.

Grey Lion and Jean Van Overmeire (Pic: Steve Hart)

Punters better get used to seeing him in New South Wales because Grey Lion will stay here now, being transferred from Matt Cumaini to the Warwick Farm-based stable of Matt Smith.

Jean Van Overmeire was full of praise for Grey Lion, who broke a 869 day winning drought.

“He was very strong. The other horse going past him probably did him the world of good because he wanted to put his head back in front so full credit to him,” the jockey said.

“Once the other horse came past me he didn’t drop off, he stuck with him and I knew then he was going fight back and tough it out to the end.”

As for the odds on favourite, Ombudsman, Kerrin McEvoy blamed the firm track, which was later upgraded to a Good 3, on finishing a well-beaten third in the field of four.

“They just quickened away from me,” said McEvoy, “He probably wants a stronger tempo and a bit more juice in the ground.”