Dandino could run in the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup
Sunday 7 September 2014 13:20, UK
Dandino could run in the Caulfield Cup as well as the Melbourne Cup after finishing fourth at Kempton on Saturday.
Marco Botti's seven-year-old was beaten a little over six lengths in the Group Three September Stakes at the Sunbury-on-Thames venue.
Connections were reportedly happy with the run, Dandino's first since finishing second in the American St Leger at Arlington in Chicago last month.
“It was a bit of a funny-run race. They walked early then it was a bit of a sprint down the straight, but we were happy enough. He ran on and finished fourth,” Darren Dance of owners Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock told www.racingnetwork.com.au.
Dance is due to speak to Botti this week to discuss whether Dandino will travel to Australia with stablemates Seismos and Guest of Honour in the first shipment of European horses.
If he does take that route, the question then will be whether last year’s Caulfield Cup runner-up take his place in the AUS$3 million race.
Last week Dance said Dandino would miss the Caulfield Cup, but the door now seems ajar.
“Marco has a view that he’s racing more like a two-miler at the moment,” Dance said on Sunday.
“Last night (when Dandino was unplaced in the September Stakes at Kempton) may have even shown that again.
We'll see how he pulls up and have a couple of days to think about whether we come for the Caulfield and Melbourne (Cups) or just the Melbourne. At this stage no decision has been made.”