Choice ‘highly unlikely’ to make Melbourne Cup bid

GALILEO’S CHOICE, a smooth winner of the Group 3 Kilternan Stakes at Leopardstown last weekend, looks unlikely to try to emulate the achievements of Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle in winning the Melbourne Cup for Dermot Weld, having failed to meet the criteria for the race.

Galileo’s Choice is “highly unlikely” to attempt to qualify for race, according to Weld after he learned the race distance of 1m 2f at Leopardstown on Saturday was not sufficient to ensure automatic inclusion for the Melbourne showpiece, for which weights will be published on Monday for the November 1 contest.

To survive the first ballot for the race, requirements are for a horse to have won a Listed race or be placed in the first three in a Group 2/Group 3 or to have finished in the first five of a Group 1 over a distance of 1m 3½f or further in all three cases.