Thought this info was very interesting. The Aussies again showing the way……

Racing Industry From Libya to Moonee Valley via Hokkaido – The extraordinary background of Cox Plate favourite Prognosis By Bren O'Brien - October 25, 2024 The backstory of leading Cox Plate fancy Prognosis extends far beyond his home country of Japan to a humble chestnut mare, who found herself in the midst of a civil war in Libya, only to win a miraculous reprieve. Prognosis, one of the favourites for the Cox Plate, will carry a remarkable legacy left by his dam Velda into Australia's most prestigious race. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images) This story features extensive additional reporting from Adrian Cugnasse of Jour De Galop  It is 10 years since Adelaide created a new international dimension to the Cox Plate, winning the race for Aidan O’Brien, and since then raiders Lys Gracieux, State Of Rest and Romantic Warrior have added their names to a storied honour board of champions. In an increasingly global era of racing, on Saturday Prognosis aims to become the second Japanese-bred winner of Australia’s greatest weight-for-age race. He is heavily favoured to do so. The seven-year-old son of the legendary Deep Impact is no stranger to travel, having been to Hong Kong twice in the past 12 months, beaten by last year’s winner Romantic Warrior on two occasions. Sign up for Straight Up - The Straight's newsletter The Straight is a free, membership-based digital publication featuring in-depth coverage of the Australian racing, wagering and breeding industries. The Straight Up newsletter is delivered three times weekly to your inbox. Subscribe No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. His trainer Mitsu Nakauchida has never been scared to put his horses on a plane, be it to Dubai, the United Kingdom or Australia, with Danon Premium running third in the 2020 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Indeed, Nakauchida’s own story is one of international adventure. He landed in Ireland as a 16-year-old looking for an equine education. He rode in amateur races in Great Britain and learned at the feet of legends such as Richard Hannon Sr and Sir Mark Prescott as well as with Bobby Frankel in the USA and Criquette Head-Maarek in France. He would return home with a suitcase full of experience and life lessons. He has continued to travel and learn, while in 2021, he was crowned Japan’s champion trainer. Mitsu would be enough for a feature in his own right, as would Damian Lane, the Bunbury-born jockey turned superstar in Australia and Japan, but there is another even more remarkable international aspect of the Prognosis story. It involves his dam, Velda, a British-bred mare who found herself on her way to Libya, only to end up in Japan. A granddaughter of Val D'Erica, who won multiple Group 1s in Italy for the famous Botti family, Velda was sold as a yearling in Milan in 2007 for a modest 11,000 euros, barely a third of the sale average. Her racing career would be similarly low-key - a couple of wins at Milan before heading to stud in France. She had produced a couple of fillies by Orpen before being sent to Arqana’s December Breeding Sale in December 2012 along with her weanling colt by Dr Fong. The colt fetched just 2500 euros, while Velda would be sold for even less. The 1500 euros on the docket was written down with ‘cash’ as a buyer. A host of lower-end mares are purchased through French breeding sales each year to head to North Africa, be it Tunisia, Morocco or Libya. Trade across the Mediterranean is surprisingly brisk. Australian-bred stallion Scissor Kick was traded from France to Morocco before his son Giga Kick won the 2022 Everest. Velda, the dam of Cox Plate runner Prognosis, at Shadai Farm in Japan. (Photo: Shadai Farm) The Straight was intrigued by Velda's journey and contacted Adrien Cugnasse, a journalist with Jour de Galop in France.   Cugnasse tracked down the buyer of Velda, a man named Patrick Melloul, a breeder in Tunisia of both thoroughbreds and purebred Arabians. It turned out that Velda’s appearance, rather than her pedigree, drew him to purchase her in the first place. "Velda was a small chestnut mare, and I have a soft spot for chestnut horses. So, I took a chance and bought her for just €1,500. I wasn't particularly interested in a particular point of the pedigree at the time. I quickly brought her to Tunisia and then sold her to Libya,” Melloul said. Libya was in quite a state of disruption at the time. Just over 12 months earlier, the long reign of Muammar Gaddafi had come to a bloody end and the country had endured a civil war, which cost an estimated 30,000 lives. Libya has been a hazardous place for horses and humans since a civil war broke out after Moammar Gaddafi's death in 2011. (Photo: (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) It wasn’t a particularly safe place for humans or horses. Later in 2020, Al Shaab Stud, Libya's largest, was raided and 60 horses were abducted, among them Australian-bred Churchill Downs, who was never found. But less than 12 months after Velda was sold, her Orpen filly Vorda, a 9000 euro yearling purchase, emerged as a star European juvenile. She won a Group 2 at Maisons Laffitte and was then runner-up to No Nay Never in the Group 1 Prix Morny. Better was to come when she claimed the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. She was sold to Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani. A pedigree, dormant for two generations, had sprung back to life. The search was now on for Velda and Melloul was wise to the opportunity. “When Vorda started to show real promise on the racetrack, I decided to buy her (Velda) back from Libya and sent her to France to be bred to Redoute's Choice. Redoute's Choice was a very popular stallion in France at the time,” Melloul said. Cugnasse explains it isn’t unprecedented for a mare to be brought back from North Africa because of the performances of one of her progeny. This has happened with the dam of horses such as Group 1 winner The Grey Gatsby and jumps star Jonbon.      Vorda, a top-class European juvenile of generation, is a half-sister to Prognosis. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images) But what happened next was quite remarkable. Less than two years after she was headed to Libya, the now Group 1-producing mare found herself on the radar of Shadai Stud owner Teruya Yoshida. Agent Patrick Barbe [personal friend of Liz's] brokered the deal and she headed to Japan in late 2014 carrying a filly by Australian champion sire Redoute’s Choice. That filly, named Avior, won three races, one of just 15 Japanese winners for the late Arrowfield champion. From a prospective mating with Arabian stallions in a volatile part of North Africa a few years prior, Velda was now being mated to Japanese superstar Deep Impact. It was her second visit to that stallion which produced Prognosis in 2018. Velda died at Shadai Farm in 2022, ending a journey that began in Italy, took in France with side trips to Tunisia and Libya before her improbable journey to Japan. Of her eight foals, seven were winners. Vorda and Prognosis are her stakes winners. Her legacy will be felt at Moonee Valley on Saturday when her son shoots for international glory and seeks to become the second of her progeny to win a Group 1. Racing IndustryNews

drops  5.5kgs      and was in the  fastest race hes  ever been in 

1. Moonee Valley R1 - 2 and 8 2. Moonee Valley R3 - 7 and 8 3. Moonee Valley R4 - 1 and 7 4. Moonee Valley R8 - 7 and 11 BEST 5. Moonee Valley R9 - 2 and 8 BEST 6. Randwick R2 - 8 and 11 7. Randwick R3 - 4 and 7 8. Randwick R5 - 1 and 2 9. Randwick R6 - 3 and 5 10. Randwick R7 - 4 and 10 11. Randwick R8 - 2 and 7 12. Randwick R9 - 7 and 11 Thanks team 🙂

Don’t know what J Mac was doing there, he had no hope from where he was. When he won last time, made a big sweeping run round them. Looked like a Melbourne Cup workout.

Probably end up with egg on my face but he'd have to improve lengths to be a chance in the Cup on that run.

A very encouraging run - at ;least from the perspective of Maxi's $2 @ 101-1 in the Melbourne Cup LOL. Thought he was going to run a long last when given a couple on the backside around the 500m mark, but he showed grit to get up for third. The Valley track is never going to be as good for him as Flemo ...and he wont have to lug 59kg  

REVOLUTION - refused to score up and was back a distance at the start. Weakened from the 700m. Declared a non-runner by Stewards under Rule 213(1)(e) due to unsatisfactory manners prior to the start. Stood down to trial to the satisfaction of Stewards on one occasion from a mobile start prior to resuming.   This is the first time I have seen a late scratching because of failing to score up and back from the field at release. This happens often and punters just suck it up as part of the risk. Will this be the case in the future and how far from the field at dispatch will qualify? Who was the stipe who authorized this? Punters got unbelievably lucky in my opinion - but more importantly they better do the same for me if my horse misbehaves. Unbelievable decision 

Winner of the 2023 Del Mar Futurity (G1), Prince of Monaco has been retired due to minor bone bruising and will stand at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.View the full article

Without the presence of Iscreamuscream, familiar rivals Medoro and Zona Verde will each have a fair shake at taking the prize in the Oct. 27 $100,000 Autumn Miss Stakes (G3T) for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Top contenders for the Nov. 1 juvenile dirt races on Breeders' Cup Friday were out in full force Oct. 25 at Churchill Downs, with East Avenue, Jonathan's Way, and Immersive appearing on the work tab.View the full article

Pardon My Dust (AUS) R1. Moonee Valley R1      9, 10     BEST BET R2. Moonee Valley R3       7, 8 R3. Moonee Valley R4       7, 10 R4. Moonee Valley R8       1, 11 R5. Moonee Valley R9       7, 8       BEST BET R6. Randwick R2               2, 11       R7. Randwick R3               4, 17 R8. Randwick R5               1, 2 R9. Randwick R6               2, 3 R10. Randwick R7             1, 2  R11. Randwick R8             2, 5 R12. Randwick R9             7, 12 Thanks John and Scooby

get there  first run   on sunday 

Now this is all from memory, but if it serve’s me correctly, Trentham haven’t been able to run 18 horse fields there since the 4 horse “clip on” gates failed to open some time back. However tomorrow, I see at least one field of 20 horses with only 2 emergencies, so I am presuming that they are here, all ready to go.  Does anyone know officially?

Piss poor prices for what will be a 24 horse field.  They will be much better on the day, plus we will know the draws, the track, the weather etc.  I can’t believe how people get sucked in by the crooked bookmakers. 

Mooney Valley R1- 2,10 Mooney Valley R3- 7,8 Mooney Valley R4- 1,7 Mooney Valley R8- 4,6 Mooney Valley R9- 6,7 Randwick R2- 7,11 Randwick R3- 3,17 Randwick R5- 1,2 Randwick R6- 2,6 BB Randwick R7- 1,2 Randwick R8- 2,5 BB Randwick R9- 5,7 Good luck all.

While many of Japan's top horses are at Del Mar prepping for the Breeders' Cup, an accomplished field remains at home to contest the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1) Oct. 27 at Tokyo Racecourse.View the full article

Stodge it is the UK Kevin Stott that has arrived in NZ to ride. Has come down for our summer I believe.