The Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes for 3-year-olds at York Racecourse in England each August has historically been a prep for the Group 1 English St. Leger in September at nearby Doncaster Racecourse.

This year’s winner, Deauville Legend, has been sent to the other side of the world, instead of across Yorkshire.

Deauville Legend is a heavy favorite at 5-2 to win the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles at Flemington Racecourse in Australia. The race has a post time of midnight Eastern on Tuesday, or 9 p.m. Pacific on Monday.

LEXINTON, Ky. - The Breeders’ Cup overseas contingent, which saw three defections among pre-entered horses earlier in the week, lost two more runners late this week. Neither Cairo, selected into the Juvenile Turf field, nor Aesop’s Fables, who was in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, are shipping for trainer Aidan O’Brien. 

The three horses taken off the overseas shipping lists earlier were Saffron Beach for the Filly and Mare Turf, Bayside Boy for the Mile, and Never Ending Story for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. 

I Wish I Win was acquired from New Zealand earlier this year by Australian trainer Peter Moody with the hope the gelding would thrive in the lucrative cup races at countryside tracks.

I Wish I Win has done so much more.

On Saturday, I Wish I Win won Australia’s second-richest race, the $6.48 million Golden Eagle Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney. The Golden Eagle Stakes is run at 7 1/2 furlongs for Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds.

Shahryar has run three times in as many countries in the last year, always keeping the best company.

Shahryar was third in the Japan Cup last November in Tokyo, the country’s top race for older horses, and won his 2022 debut in the Group 1 Sheema Classic, a $6 million race in Dubai in March.

In his lone start in the last six months, Shahryar was fourth in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June.

As longshots, Cotehele and Riodini were not beaten far in races at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia on Oct. 15.

The respectable losses have put them among the leading hopes in the $128,100 Goulburn Cup at seven furlongs at Goulburn Racecourse on Saturday.

Cotehele was sixth by slightly more than three lengths at 25-1 in the $620,000 Silver Eagle Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs for 4-year-olds on Oct. 15.

Light Infantry, second in consecutive Group 1 races in Deauville, France, in July and August, will be favored to win his Australian debut in the $6.5 million Golden Eagle Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney on Friday evening across American time zones.

The Golden Eagle Stakes, launched only in 2019, is run at 7 1/2 furlongs for Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds. Light Infantry is a 3-year-old in the Northern Hemisphere, but recognized as a 4-year-old in Australia.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Sunday, October 30, 2022)

The Australian gelding Leather Jacket Lew had the best results of his career last December and January, winning consecutive starts at 1 5/16 miles and 1 3/8 miles.

In shorter distances of seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles from February to as recently as last Saturday, Leather Jacket Lew was unable to replicate those wins.

A return to a distance race, and a drop in class from his last start, may help Leather Jacket Lew end the losing streak in a handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on Thursday evening across American time zones.

Dolphina, Mehajir, and Midori Fuji, all last-race winners, will meet for the first time in a one-mile handicap at Gosford Racecourse in Australia on Wednesday evening across American time zones.

The lightly raced Mehajir, a winner of 2 of 4 starts, may hold a slight edge over her two talented rivals considering her recent wins and stalking style.

Trained by Nathan Doyle, Mehajir has won her last two starts – a maiden race at 7 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Sept. 29 and her debut against winners in a one-mile handicap at Kembla Grange on Oct. 13.

Mark McNamara:

R1: 5.3.1.9

R2: 2.13.7.9

R3: 1.2.11.12

R4: 6.7.3.4

R5: 10.3.9.4

R6: 3.5.4.2

R7: 6.3.2.12

R8: 2.8.11.5

R9: 6.1.3.12

Best Bet: R8 N2 Super Win Dragon

Longshot: R6 N3 Prosecco

Play: R6  Q/QP 3.4.5

Tom Wood:

R1:    9-1-6-10

R2:    2-7-4-14

R3:    1-12-2-7

R4:    6-4-7-3

R5:    3-2-1-9

R6:    11-4-5-2

R7:    7-6-5-2

R8:    2-7-8-5

R9:    6-1-3-10