Vow And Declare heads strong field for 2023 Mornington Cup

Vow And Declare headlines the 14 horse field for the 2023 Mornington Cup. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Racing Photos)

Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare headlines the strong field for the 2023 Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s feature on the nine-race program offers the winner ballot exemption to the 2023 Caulfield Cup on October 21.

Carrying the top-weight in the 2400m affair will be the Danny O’Brien-trained Vow And Declare, who looks to add the Mornington feature to his name alongside wins in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) and Zipping Classic (2400m).

He heads to Mornington on the back of two runner-up efforts behind Right You Are and a close fourth-place finish in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill on March 25.

Right You Are is set for his 11th start this campaign and will be looking to bounce back from a hefty defeat behind the undefeated White Marlin in the Group 3 Easter Cup at Sandown.

Heading the market at $4.40 with online bookmakers is Hezashocka, who managed to finish on the heels of Anamoe in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes and is looking for his first win since taking out a handicap event at Flemington back in July last year.

Saturday’s race will be just the second time Hezashocka steps out over 2400m, and the first time since running in the 2021 Group 1 Queensland Derby, where he finished 10.7 lengths back in 10th place.

Looking to go one better in the race is the Grahame Begg-trained Nonconformist, who finished second behind Mount Popa in this race 12 months ago and will be wanting to bounce back from a below-par performance in the Group 1 Australian Cup after smashing his rivals in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes.

Last-start Group 2 Adelaide Cup winner Rebel Racer joins the likes of Benaud, Port Philip and Gear Up in seeking that golden ticket into one of the premier staying events on the Australian horse racing calendar.

2023 Listed Mornington Cup Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Vow And Declare	Danny O’Brien	John Allen	8	60kg
2	Camorra	Ben & JD Hayes	Luke Nolen	6	59kg
3	Nonconformist	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	1	59kg
4	Gear Up	Annabel Neasham	Jamie Mott	4	58kg
5	Hezashocka	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Blake Shinn	14	58kg
6	Right You Are	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Allen	10	58kg
7	Fancy Man	Annabel Neasham	Daniel Moor	5	57.5kg
8	Aurora’s Symphony	Symon Wilde	Linda Meech	9	55.5kg
9	Benaud	John O’Shea	Craig Williams	11	55kg
10	Rebel Racer	Amy & Ash Yargi	Craig Newitt	15	55kg
11	Swords Drawn	Mike Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	2	55kg
12	Port Philip	Julius Sandhu	Celine Gaudray	12	54kg
13	Herman Hesse	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Michael Dee	3	54kg
14	Yaphet	Cliff Brown	Harry Coffey	13	54kg
15	Caboche (1E)	Chris Waller	Jye McNeil	7	54kg