Co-owner Nick Williams is hoping that Sea Moon can turn around his 2014 Melbourne Cup lead-up form and play a part in the finish of the Group 1 event at Flemington on Tuesday.
Sea Moon failed to fire in the Caulfield Cup, but co-owner Nick Williams believes that the imported stayer is capable of returning to his best in the 2014 Melbourne Cup. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
UPDATE: Sea Moon will not contest the Melbourne Cup 2014 after being removed from the field of 24 with an elevated temperature on Monday morning.
Sea Moon finished a disappointing 13th in the 2013 edition of the Melbourne Cup and he finished at the tail of the field in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on March 8 – his only start during the 2014 Melbourne Festival Of Racing.
The Beat Hollow entire was well-backed in the lead-up to the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2520m) at Flemington on October 4, but he did not hot the line strongly and could finish no better than fifth, while he finished at the tail of the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 18.
While Williams admits that the 2014 Melbourne Cup lead-up form of Sea Moon has been very poor, he remains hopeful that the imported stayer has the talented to score a maiden win at Group 1 level on the first Tuesday of November.
“It is pretty hard to off his form in the Caulfield Cup, but he did pull up a little sore,” Williams said.
“We seem to have rectified that problem and I would say that over the past week the horse has been really full of himself and in great order.
“He is a very high class horse and if we see him in anything like the form we know he has got and shown previously he has the ability to run a great race.
“Obviously with the run he put in in the Caulfield Cup it is pretty hard to have confidence, but I am certainly pretty hopeful of him and I wouldn’t be shocked if he was in the finish.”
Sea Moon was purchased by Team Williams at the end of 2012 after an impressive racing career in Europe under the care of leading trainer Sir Michael Stoute.
He won the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes (2414m) as a three-year-old before finishing in the placings in the Group 1 St Leger Stakes (2937m) and Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf (2414m) before he defeated a field that included Dunaden, Red Cadeaux and Fiorente in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes (2414m) at Royal Ascot.
Sea Moon made a slow start to his Australian racing career and he was denied a maiden race win on protest in The Bart Cummings before he took out the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) and stamped himself as a leading Melbourne Cup contender.
Sea Moon is currently available at 2014 Melbourne Cup odds of $151, while stablemate Fawkner has drifted out to odds of $9.50 to deliver Lloyd Williams a fifth win in the Melbourne Cup.
