Moonee Valley Cup

The 2011 Moonee Valley Cup (Drake International Cup) nominations have been released with a good number of horses trying to get themselves into the 2500m Group 2 event this Saturday at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

It’s not just the amount of trainers targeting the Moonee Valley Cup that’s impressive but so to the quality of horses that they’re bringing.

This could probably very easily be a Group 1 race and there’s little doubt it’s going to take a Group 1 performance to win it.

That’s the way it should be as well with more riding on this event than just the $250,000 in prize money.

For many of these runners the Melbourne Cup also stands out as a shining light beyond this race and success here is all but compulsory for a few of them.

For others the pressure may be slightly less but there’s little doubt any horse with Melbourne Cup ambitions needs to run well here to be any chance come the first Tuesday in November.

That even extends as far as the 2010 Melbourne Cup champion Americain.

The Moonee Valley Cup will be his first run in Australia since returning for this spring and connections will be hoping he can hit the ground running.

It’s something he did manage to do last year, winning the Geelong Cup first up before his Melbourne Cup triumph.

Moonee Valley though offers a new challenge and the quality of horse he’ll need t deal with is also an area of concern.

All up 15 horse are expected to line up at the gates this Saturday with a final field announcement to be made tomorrow.

Come back then for the latest information as well as form guides, tips and betting information throughout the week.

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2011 Moonee Valley Cup Nominations