Melbourne Cup off the agenda for Giavellotto

Ashley Iveson
September 21, 2023 2:19 pm

Champions Day possibility will be ground dependent.

Giavellotto will head to Qipco Champions Day or be put away until next season after connections shelved the idea of having a tilt at this year’s Melbourne Cup.

A narrow winner of the Yorkshire Cup in the spring, Marco Botti’s stable star has since finished fifth in the Goodwood Cup and third in the Lonsdale Cup back at York last month.

Given Giavellotto’s preference for a sound surface, a trip to Australia appeared an attractive proposition – but with the stringent veterinary checks required to contest the Flemington showpiece seemingly a factor, he will not contest the ‘race that stops a nation’ in early November.

“He’s in good form and has come out of the race at York in fine shape, but we’re not going to Australia,” said Botti.

“There were a few niggling problems and it’s not going to happen this year unfortunately. He’s fine, but there were concerns we might get him there and he wouldn’t be able to run or whatever, so we just decided bypass it for this year.

“Hopefully next year if we still have him and everything is going well then we can think about it as the Melbourne Cup is a race the owners would love to go for, and the race and the track would suit him as he seems to go on left-handed tracks.”

With the Melbourne Cup ruled out, the only viable option left for Giavellotto this season is the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup on October 21, but the prospect of demanding conditions at Ascot is an obvious concern.

“We’ll keep an eye on the weather as he will only go to Ascot if the ground is not too soft. Good to soft is fine, but he wouldn’t want to run on anything softer than that,” Botti added.

“If he doesn’t go to Ascot we’ll just put him away for the winter.

“We haven’t discussed plans for next year with the owners yet. I wouldn’t rule out going back to Dubai World Cup night for the Gold Cup, but let’s see how he winters and how he is after a nice break.”