Pale Mimosa in quarantine, but Oz trip still up in the air
The five-year-old was last seen finishing a disappointing fifth behind Brown Panther in the Irish St Leger but had previously turned in a career-best effort when beating Estimate in the Lonsdale Cup at York.
Weld will discuss plans with joint-owners Dr Ronan Lambe and Merribelle Irish Farm with the trainer feeling no pressure to make an early call on her participation.
He told Melbourne radio station RSN: “She was impressive when she won the Lonsdale at York, she beat a good mare that has gone on to win the Doncaster Cup so the form is pretty solid.
“Pale Mimosa is a nice mare, she went into quarantine today but no decision has been made yet on whether she goes or not.
“A decision doesn’t have to be made for two weeks or close to 10 days anyway. We’ll just see how she’s training, see what the make up of the race is like, see what the weather forecast is like and make a final call then.
“I would like to see a little bit of rain.
“I’ll have to discuss it with the connections – it’s a joint decision. There’s an awful lot of money involved.
“I withdrew her from the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on the day because I wasn’t happy with the track. I’ve done it already this year and there was disappointment then, but it was the right call.”
from her second place in this year’s Gold Cup at Royal Ascot following a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel hearing in London.
A post-race sample containing morphine had been produced by Estimate, although trainer Michael Stoute did not face a penalty as the source of the positive test had been found to be contaminated feed, with the BHA satisfied all reasonable precautions had been taken to avoid any breach of the rules. Despite that, the Rules of Racing state that horses producing a positive sample for a prohibited substance should be disqualified from relevant races.
one of the few trainers to have won jump racing’s Big Three, the Grand National, Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, died last night aged 78. Balding, who trained near Andover, won two Grand Nationals with Highland Wedding in 1969 and Little Polveir in 1989.
The uncle of Claire Balding and current trainer Andrew, he won his two Champion Hurdles with Morley Street and Beech Road and the Gold Cup with Cool Ground.
