Healthy nominations for Sydney features
The Sydney autumn carnival is set to have a distinct international flavour with several of the world’s leading trainers nominating horses for feature races.
Irish powerhouses Aidan and Joseph O’Brien and top English trainer William Haggas, best known in Australia for his feats with dual Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Addeybb, have entered 10 horses between them.
Another 15 Japanese-trained horses have also been nominated, while the New Zealanders are back in force with 75 entries after they were hindered from travelling in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian Turf Club received a total of 1522 entries across 10 major races, an increase of 17 per cent from last year, with the Sydney Cup (133 nominations) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (123) both increasing significantly in popularity.
Among the expected highlights will be Nature Strip’s quest for a record fourth straight win in the T J Smith Stakes and Godolphin’s star four-year-old Anamoe flying the flag for the local contingent against the likes of the Haggas-trained Dubai Honour in the Queen Elizabeth.
Joseph O’Brien has won Melbourne Cups with Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020) and has nominated four horses in his quest for a first Sydney Cup (3200m) – Baron Samedi, Cleveland, Raise You and Temple Of Artemis.
Aidan O’Brien has just one Sydney Cup nomination, eight-time winner Broome as he looks for a breakthrough Group 1 win in Sydney.
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