Vow And Declare

Not exactly bred to stay. The Gene test must have told Danny where to go with him.

Huge return today
They are planning on 2nd up into the Caulfield Cup
Then potentially 3rd up the 3200m at Flemington

He’s currently 37th in the Melb Cup order of entry.

I definitely like the horse & hope he make the field. But are there really 13 horses above him in the order of entry that will drop out over the next month?

Thinking he might need to win something this prep to make it - ie: one of Caulfield, MV or Bendigo Cups

Is Latrobe in Australia ? 

Craig Williams booked for Caulfield

Will give it a massive shake.  On the way up!

Yes Redemption, I believe he is.

With all the drop outs over the past few days (KWD, Self Sense, Raymond Tusk, etc) he’s comfortably in the top 18 in the order of entry.

I couldn’t be confident of him winning at Caulfield but love to see him run well enough to justify pressing on to the Melb Cup.

Craig Williams booked for CC

Really like this horse. Such a promising stayer. I'm on for Saturday, but I'm on bigger for the first Tuesday in November. He will love 3200m at Flemington.

Breeders get a bum rap when it comes to laying blame for the dearth of stayers bred out here.

Every thoroughbred is bred deep down to run at least 4000m however even I above queried his stamina from a pedigree point of view.

Thanks Jamal, we all know that.  Does it have any relevance to what's being discussed about when he was offered for sale and his apparent pedigree profile at the time?

I heard an interview with DOB about 6mths ago & not only does he DNA test each horse for its' ideal distance, in order to program its' training from scratch but also uses sensors on front legs to pick up the slightest change in stride, therefore minimising risk of serious injury.

Gay3 wrote: I heard an interview with DOB about 6mths ago & not only does he DNA test each horse for its' ideal distance, in order to program its' training from scratch but also uses sensors on front legs to pick up the slightest change in stride, therefore minimising risk of serious injury.

Couple things...

1. How does a guy with the nous to use those two things get mixed up with the dodgy vet.

2. That’s not an exclusive test, and even so, he didn’t use it as a sales tool. He had the sibling Lycurgus (a son of Star Witness) in the yard & was sent a horse that was passed in & retained to race. Lycurgus is a multiple winner at 2000m+ though had only once stepped out beyond 1400m when V&D went through the ring. Two months later he won the listed Galilee Final over 2400.

Add to that the history of Stakes winners in the family AND the sire’s major wins being well within the range of consideration for staying potential, and it’s safe to say that the writing was on the wall.

Not saying I would’ve put my hand up at the sale, but I fail to see how the information on the page would peg him as anything... if he was pegged as a miler, he probably would’ve sold above the reserve.

The most important question though..... has he done enough to get into the final 24... I hope so