Racing: Time for Kiwis to stand up

Envoy, winner of the Wellington Cup in January, has what it takes to shake this field.

Despite New Zealand's supposed dominance in the supreme staying category of Australian racing, we don't have a wonderful record in the Sydney Cup.

Not in the last decade or more anyway.

For three years we looked like dominating - King Aussie and Noel Harris won in 1990 on the heaviest track perhaps Randwick has ever seen. It only just passed the litmus test as horse racing.

A year later Justa Dancer got home for Grant Cooksley and the horse gets half a tick as a New Zealander because he was bred here and Graeme Rogerson was ferrying his horses a lot more in those days.

And in 1992 My Eagle Eye won for Murray Baker.

But in the 12 Sydney Cups run since, Honor Babe in 2003 is our only winner.

So there is a bit resting on the shoulders of Envoy, Three Chimneys and Zabeat in the A$600,000 ($707,000) Sydney Cup run at 3.50pm New Zealand time today.

It is a formidable trio and Zabeat and Envoy particularly have what it takes to really shake this field, despite the apparent dominance of Australian-trained Fooram and Molotov.

Remarkably for New Zealand form followers, Three Chimneys is the greatly preferred choice of the Kiwis.

Most Australian bookies have had Three Chimneys at around $12 after his fighting second to the Sydney Cup favourite Fooram in the Chairman's Handicap and yesterday, Sydney's Colin Tidy moved the David Haworth-trained stayer to $10.

That seems remarkable when Tidy is betting $34 about Zabeat, who was caught in the last strides of the Auckland Cup by the hugely talented Pentane and who has a Wellington Cup to his credit at this distance.

Three Chimneys has a fourth in the much easier New Zealand Cup as his only 3200m CV recording and is receiving only half a kilo from Zabeat in the weights, looks much worse off in the handicap.

Wellington Cup winner Envoy is at the peak of his career and has to carry topweight of 56.5kg as a result of his stunning January victory.

Bookmakers have him at around $21, which also looks a touch generous.

Fooram has finally found the staying form he promised when trained at various stages in New Zealand by Frank Ritchie then Richard Otto.

He has yet to tackle 3200m, but the way he has finished off in winning the Manion Cup and Chairman's Handicap in his lead-up races suggests he will have every chance of pulling it off.

The massive tip in Australia is for the Jim Conlan-trained Molotov, who has leaped into second favouritism at $6.

It will be a wonderful training performance by the astute Conlan if the Molotov wins because from a limited career, the horse has won only four races and his last victory was in a lowly 4-win race at Sale in provincial Victoria.

There are a lot of reasons Donna Logan is hoping to win with Zabeat, not the least of them is she wants to see the much talked about victory antics of her Hong Kong-based French jockey Olivier Doleuze.

It would be a thrill of a lifetime to witness that on your own horse in a race like the Sydney Cup.