NEWCASTLE trainer Rod Ollerton hopes Royal Tudor can defy a weight rise and outside gate to hand him victory with his first Melbourne Cup day runner at Flemington.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Royal Tudor will contest race three, a $120,000 race over 1400 metres, from barrier 11 with Dwayne Dunn aboard.
The five-year-old gelding was eighth in listed company in his first race at Flemington on October 7 from barrier 10 with only 54 kilograms.
He returns to the track with a 60kg topweight, four kilograms heavier than his nearest rival in the 16-horse field and was $26 with TAB Fixed Odds.
Ollerton was pleased with Royal Tudor’s last-start effort.
“Everything is going along well,” Ollerton said. “He drew wide last start but he ran on quite well from the back of the field and we were quite happy with him, so he’s had a good preparation leading into this next one. The weight is always a factor but he comes back a little bit in grade.”
The other Newcastle-trained hope at the meeting is Kris Lees’ Yulong Xingsheng, which was second in the listed Reginald Allen (1400m) at Randwick on October 14. She will jump from barrier three on Tuesday in the sixth, a listed $150,000 race over 1400m for three-year-old fillies, and was $17.
“She’ll run well,” Lees said.
“It’s a similar race, although maybe a touch stronger than the one she finished second in the other day. She’ll be competitive with a soft draw.”
Lees has Powerline in the Subzero Handicap on Thursday and Sense Of Occasion (Emirates Stakes) and Clearly Innocent (Darley Classic) racing on Saturday.
