Many horseracing fans are tipping Shocking to be crowned the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner, but can the five-year-old really manage to claim two consecutive Melbourne Cup trophies?
The son of Street Cry has done it before, so why not again? Trained by the Flemington-based Mark Kavanagh, Shocking defeated a top quality field of 23 stayers to claim one of Australia’s greatest honours last November.
The Melbourne Cup winner sat in third for the majority of the race to power forward with Corey Brown in the hot seat. The pair held off a late surge by the international Crime Scene which finished three-quarters of a length back in second, while Mourilyan took third.
Kavanagh was pleased with the way the Champion horse ran in his first up jump in the Group Two JJ Liston Stakes (1400m) a couple of weeks ago, and has pencilled in a run in the Group Two Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) on September 4.
The last time a horse claimed back-to-back Melbourne Cup wins was from 2003 to 2005 by the legendary Makybe Diva – the mare claimed three.
Shocking has won five of his 18 career starts, accumulating a little under $3.9 million in prizemoney, and could be adding more to that come November 2.
Kavanagh has another five horses among the 2010 Melbourne Cup nominations including five-year-old gelding Hastein, half brother to Shocking Hillstreet, the lightly raced Kaleske, four-year-old Shamoline Warrior and the Zabeel mare Zantelagh.
The 2010 Melbourne Cup prizemoney has reached $6 million this year, and as the event reaches its 150th anniversary, has certainly drawn a lot of attention from horseracing fans around the world.
So remember to check back in here regularly at Horseraces.com.au as we provide you with all the latest news, and when the 2010 Melbourne Cup final field is released, we will have it here for you!
