French import Finche is in the early stages of his 2019 Spring Carnival campaign which will culminate with a second attempt to conquer Australia’s greatest race, the Group 1 $8m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
Finche finished fourth to Cross Counter, above, in the 2018 Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Finche had good form in Europe with three wins from eight starts before being transferred to Sydney’s premiership winning trainer Chris Waller with his best win before arriving in Australia being a victory in the Group 2 EUR €130,000 Prix Eugene Adam (2000m) at Maisons Laffitte in France in July 2017.
Waller was in charge of Finche’s 2018 Spring Carnival campaign and while the five year old son of Frankel was unable to win from two race starts, he showed enough on the track which will give the stable plenty of hope heading into this year’s Spring.
Finche ran a solid third behind Runaway and Northwest Passage in the Group 3 $350,000 Geelong Cup (2400m) at Geelong before just missing out on a placing when fourth to Cross Counter in the 2018 Melbourne Cup.
Finche is back in full work at Waller’s Rosehill base and high-profile jockey Hugh Bowman was very happy with the import’s work on Tuesday morning.
“He felt great,” Bowman said.
“He is full of beans and he is back for another good Spring.”
Finche is currently marked at $26 for the 2019 Melbourne Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au while last year‘s winner Cross Counter is the early favourite at $15 just ahead of Joseph O’Brien trained Irish stayer Master Of Reality at $17.
Finche is also in the betting for the Group 1 $5.15m Stella Artois Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 19 and is marked at $31.
The James Cummings trained Avilius sits at the top of the Caulfield Cup betting at $11 just ahead of Australian Oaks winner Verry Elleegant at $13.
All In betting for the 2019 Melbourne Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au: $15 Cross Counter, $17 Master Of Rreality, $21 Falcon Eight, Japan, Torcedor, $26 A Prince Of Arran, Avilius, Django Freeman, Finche, Ghostwatch, Marmelo, Gold Mount, Ispolini, Kew Gardens, Shraaoh, Surprise Baby, Verry Elleegant, Vow And Declare, $31 Johannes Vermeer, Amade, Dee Ex Bee, Latrobe, Rostropovich, Southern France, Steel Prince, Stradivarius, $34 Buckhurst, Raa Atoli, Sir Dragnet, $41 Mr Quickie, Dubhe, Mugatoo, Old Persian, Rekindling, Yucatan, $51 or better the rest.
