Appleby Prepares For 'Bucket List' Mission

This Sunday, visitors to Newmarket's Open Day will have a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks, the base for the team of horses trained by Charlie Appleby.

The trainer is currently enjoying a season to remember, his strike-rate of 26% being equal only to William Haggas and unmatched by any of the major stables in Britain. And while there are still plenty of major prizes up for grabs in Europe, Appleby has also just sent a quartet of his runners into quarantine in Newmarket ahead of a trip to Australia, where he posted some pretty impressive results with his first representatives at last year's Spring Carnival.

“We went down with a team but Scottish was really the one that we felt had the live chance. The rest of the team had staying form on the flat and some had been jumping as well, and it was a case of testing the waters for the future,” says Appleby.

Scottish (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) did indeed acquit himself well, finishing second to the mighty mare Jameka (Aus) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) in the G1 Caulfield Cup, but his travelling companions also played their part in a memorable overseas campaign.

Francis Of Assisi (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) annexed the G3 Bendigo Cup and G3 Queen Elizabeth S., Oceanographer (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won the G3 Lexus S. on VRC Derby Day to earn himself a slot in the Melbourne Cup, in which he finished 12^th. His stablemate Qewy went better still, his victory in the G3 Geelong Cup proving the perfect stepping stone for the 'race that stops the nation', in which he was produced late to finish a staying-on fourth behind Almandin (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). Eleven days later he was back to lift the Sandown Cup, earning quite a following from the locals in the process.

The trainer says, “On those international trips you have to travel well and they all did that and acclimatised very quickly. From the moment they landed everything just went the right way.

“It was my first trip to Australia as well, along with most of the team, so it was a learning curve for us all going down there but everyone was so accommodating to us and the guys at Werribee were fantastic – the track was in great condition and I couldn't thank them enough for everything they did for us while we were there.”

Already looking forward to his return visit next month, he adds, “For Europeans arriving in Melbourne it's amazing to feel the buzz created by the Spring Carnival. You go racing with crowds of 90-100,000. Those are figures we never see in Europe. But it's a city of sports fanatics and racing takes priority during the carnival.”

This season's challengers from Moulton Paddocks will include the return of two old favourites, the 7-year-olds Qewy and Francis Of Assisi. The latter is a rarity in that he has been trained by Aidan O'Brien, John Ferguson and Appleby, having been bought by Anthony Stroud for 42,000gns as a 4-year-old. The intention then was for a jumping career, and he duly won three hurdle races for Ferguson's Bloomfields stable before switching to Appleby on Ferguson's retirement from the training ranks. Qewy, too, has decent hurdles form from his days at Bloomfields.

The pair will be joined by the former French-trained Kidmenever (Ire) (Baltic King {GB}), who has been placed in two Listed races this summer for Appleby after a winter in Dubai, and Folkswood (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who was runner-up to Decorated Knight (GB) in the G1 Jebel Hatta and has subsequently posted some decent performances in Group company in Britain.

“Folkswood will probably take a look at the [G1] Caulfield S. on Octover 14 for his first start,” advises Appleby. “We'll have a look at the [G2] Herbert Power with Kidmenever who will need to win a race like that to get a penalty to get into the Melbourne Cup.”

Of course the G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup, with its pot of A$6.22 million and run this year on Tuesday, Nov. 7, is the one most international raiders want to win, not to mention every local trainer. Even before Sheikh Mohammed had a significant racing stable of his own in Australia, he has long targeted the Cup and has come close on a number of occasions with Central Park (Ire) (In The Wings {GB}), Give The Slip (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}) and Crime Scene (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}) all having finished second in the race.

“Godolphin started as an international stable with the aim of competing in all the big races,” Appleby says. “Australia was on the list along with America and Japan and all the great meetings around the world. We've supported the Spring Carnival year on year and it's still on the bucket list to win the Melbourne Cup. Saeed [Bin Suroor] has gone very close on a number of occasions and Qewy ran a creditable fourth for us last year. We're going with a smaller team this year but we hope to have one horse than can get to the Cup and be a live contender.”

That challenge may well rest on the shoulders of the admirable veterans, with Qewy likely to attempt to defend his Geelong Cup crown first. “Qewy is off a racing weight for the Cup and he may follow his route of last year,” says Appleby. He was ultra-consistent out there, and going on to win the Sandown Cup after a tough race at Flemington was a credit to him. We were pleased with his run at Ascot [in the Queen Alexandra S.] on quicker ground. Then at Goodwood the conditions were on the easy side and I'm not sure the undulating track suited him. He thrived on the quick ground and more conventional tracks of Australia. It's going to be tougher for him but he deserves his slot down there and he's a really nice horse to have around.”

Francis of Assisi, meanwhile, will attempt to go one better than Scottish and to emulate the 2008 victory of Godolphin's All The Good (Ire) (Diesis {GB}) in the Caulfield Cup before a tilt at the Melbourne Cup.

But it's not just Victoria's big prizes currently being eyed by Appleby. In April, Polarisation (GB) (Echo Of Light {GB}) outlasted Who Shot Thebarman (NZ)

(Yamanin Vital {NZ}) in the re-running of the G1 Sydney Cup two weeks after the original race was marred by the fatal injury of Almoonqith (Dynaformer), which led to the contest being declared void.

The 5-year-old has not been seen in public since then but he will likely be boarding a flight back to Sydney's Autumn Championships, according to his trainer, who says, “Polarisation came back from Australia but he's a horse that loves ease in the ground. It's a long way to go to guess whether we will get those kind of conditions in Melbourne but back in Sydney in the autumn we have a better chance of finding the right ground for him. We hope to have him ready for the Sydney Cup again.”