Geelong Cup draws strong field of stayers

First Immortal will line up in Wednesday’s Group 3 Geelong Cup. (Photo: George Sal/Racing Photos)

Wednesday’s Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) has attracted a strong field of 17 stayers vying for the $500,000 on offer in what shapes as one of the final Melbourne Cup (3200m) auditions.

The Geelong Cup has often been used as a final run for horses heading towards the Melbourne Cup a fortnight later, with international runners holding a strong record in the race.

Media Puzzle won the Geelong Cup on his way to claiming the 2002 Melbourne Cup, as did Americain in 2010 and Dunaden in 2021.

Several runners in the 2023 edition of the Geelong Cup need to win it in order to make their way up the 2023 Melbourne Cup order of entry.

One of those is Geelong Cup favourite First Immortal, who missed out on qualifying automatically for the Melbourne Cup when finishing second behind Future History in The Bart Cummings (2500m) on October 7.

The four-year-old gelding sits 49th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, and a win on Wednesday would push him well up the list.

His chances were dealt a blow on Monday, with First Immortal – set to be ridden by Jamie Kah – drawing barrier 15 in the 17-horse field.

Having finished third in the 2021 Melbourne Cup, Spanish Mission will use the Geelong feature as his final run heading into the first Tuesday in November.

The Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman-trained stayer is already comfortably in the Melbourne Cup field and looks like he is building nicely to peak in the Melbourne Cup fourth-up.

Blake Shinn will partner Spanish Mission from barrier 11 on Wednesday.

Chris Waller will send five of his runners to the Geelong Cup, while the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace barn, along with Annabel Neasham, will have two representatives in the Cup.

The 2023 Geelong Cup is race seven on a stacked nine-race program on Wednesday afternoon and is set to jump at 4pm AEDT.

Geelong Cup 2023 field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Spanish Mission	Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman	Blake Shinn	11	60kg
2	Ashrun	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	1	56.5kg
3	King Frankel	Annabel Neasham	Jamie Mott	3	56kg
4	Sheraz	Chris Waller	TBC	12	56kg
5	Magical Lagoon	Chris Waller	TBC	5	55kg
6	More Felons	Chris Waller	TBC	10	55kg
7	Virtuous Circle	Liam Howley	Damien Lane	4	55kg
8	Fancy Man	Annabel Neasham	John Allen	17	54.5kg
9	High Emocean	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	16	54kg
10	Sir Lucan	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Linda Meech	2	54kg
11	Amade	Phillip Stokes	Zac Spain	13	54kg
12	Mount Popa	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	14	54kg
13	First Immortal	Mark & Levi Kavanagh	Jamie Kah	15	54kg
14	Timour	Chris Waller	TBC	9	54kg
15	Ferago	Patrick F Ryan Jnr	Harry Grace	6	54kg
16	Mr Waterville	Chris Waller	TBC	7	54kg
17	The Map	Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray	Ben Price	8	54kg