Trainer vows stayer ready

Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War {USA}) will strip in the best possible order after a trouble-free preparation for next Tuesday’s G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup.

"The horse has taken improvement from the Caulfield Cup and he's as good as we can have him for next Tuesday," trainer Danny O’Brien said.

Vow And Declare finished runner-up in the Caulfield feature and he is safely in the top 24 for the Melbourne Cup.

"It's really nice to knock that over early in the week rather than sweat all week and potentially have to run on Derby Day which was not going to be our first choice," O'Brien said. "He's going to breeze into the race and there's still potentially a few more that might come out."

Vow And Declare has 52kg in the Melbourne Cup and will be ridden by Craig Williams, who is striving to win the race for the first time.

Bivouac to take his chance

Leading 3-year-old Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) is likely to run in the G1 Coolmore Stud S.

Godolphin trainer James Cummings watched the colt work over the straight course at Flemington on Tuesday morning and indicated he would take his place in the 1200 metre feature.

He won the G1 Golden Rose and was a hot favourite to add the G1 Manikato S. to his record last time out but, was hemmed in on the fence and finished sixth.

Stablemate and last season’s G1 ATC Sires’ Produce S. winner and G1 Golden Slipper S. runner up Microphone (Exceed And Excel) is also in the Coolmore.

Bosson thinking of Australia

The plaudits Opie Bosson earned for his ride on Te Akau Shark (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) when third in the G1 Cox Plate has the champion New Zealand jockey seriously considering a winter stint riding in Australia.

Bosson has always made the most of his hit-and-run raids on Australian carnivals, right back to landing his first Australian Group 1 success in the 1998 VRC Oaks at Flemington as an 18-year-old.

“It first happened when I won on Grand Archway, but I was too young and too immature then. I was better off coming back to New Zealand,” Bosson said.

“Since then I’ve had offers from quite a few trainers to shift over there, but the timing hasn’t been right. Besides I love my lifestyle in New Zealand. That’s the main reason I’ve stayed here.

“Now it’s something I would really look at, with the way New Zealand racing is going, maybe for a few months during winter."

Vale Brian Cox

Former leading country trainer Brian Cox has died in a truck accident in north-east Victoria.

Wodonga-based Cox was serving a disqualification from training and had turned to truck driving during his ban ahead of being eligible to reapply for his trainers' licence in May next year.

Affectionately known as the King of Wodonga, Cox followed his father Ollie into training and won his local Cup 11 times, the latest in 2014 with Minnie Downs (Clangalang).

Australian Trainers' Association chief executive Andrew Nicholl extended his sympathies to Cox's family.

"Ollie was one of the founding life members of the Australian Trainers' Association and his son went into the racing game and he carried on the legacy in his own way," Nicholl said. "It's a shocking loss."

Midfield gate for favourite

A field of 16 has paid up for the G1 Victoria Derby at Flemington with G1 Spring Champion S. winner and race favourite Shadow Hero (Pierro) drawing barrier 10.

The G3 Caulfield Classic winner Thought Of That (So You Think {NZ}) has drawn the inside barrier for Saturday's 3-year-old feature, in which he will have a change of rider with Mark Zahra replacing Linda Meech.

The G2 Vase winner Soul Patch (Shamus Award) will start from gate two while the Listed Geelong Classic winner Long Jack (So You Think {NZ}) will jump from the widest barrier.

Derby comparisons

Relucent (Savabeel) has followed a similar route to the G1 Victoria Derby as Preferment (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and trainer Chris Waller is hoping for the same result in this year's classic.

The Waller-trained Preferment won the G1 Victoria Derby as a maiden in 2014 and Relucent is chasing his first win when he runs on Saturday.

Relucent's past three starts have been in the same races Preferment used as his Derby lead-ups, including last week's Listed Geelong Classic.

"He's got a very similar profile to Preferment who won the race as a maiden and Relucent is a maiden as well,” Waller said.

"He's by Savabeel and you wouldn't expect the Derby distance to be any concern, and probably it's a big asset to him to have that staying bloodline."

Brutal drifts after draw

Brutal (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) has been deposed as favourite for the inaugural Golden Eagle at Rosehill after drawing the outside barrier in the field of 17.

Arcadia Queen (Pierro), who will start from barrier five, remains at $4.20, replacing Brutal at the top of the market with the latter easing from $4 to $4.60.

Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) has firmed from $5.50 to $5 after coming up with the inside gate.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Never No More (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) is a $23 chance and will be ridden by Pierrre-Charles Boudot, who rode Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) to win the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe earlier this month.

Johnston sets new mark

Trainer Mark Johnston has set a record for the number of winners trained in a calendar year in Britain with Bavardages' (Ire) (Dream Ahead {USA}) victory at Kempton.

Johnston, 60, who last year became the most successful trainer in terms of career winners in Britain, was saddling his 236th winner of 2019.

The previous record of 235 been shared between Richard Hannon snr, whose best tally was in 2013, and Richard Fahey, who equalled the mark in 2015, until Johnston joined them when Bo Samraan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won at Pontefract.

"We knew it would come some time," Johnston said. "I wasn't going chasing any records. The horses were only going to run if it was right for them and it would happen eventually."