AUSTRALIAN BLOODSTOCK FIND NEW MELBOURNE CUP HOPE

• 

IT is no coincidence that Australian Bloodstock’s latest Melbourne Cup hope Wine Dark Sea has a link to one of their earlier winners Protectionist.

The Hunter-based syndicator took an important step toward winning Australia’s great race for a third time when the young stayer led throughout in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes (2670m) at Newbury in the UK overnight.

The beaten brigade included favorite and third placegetter Dubai Honour, well-known to Australian racegoers as the winner of three Sydney Group 1s, including the 2023 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick.

“Wine Dark Sea was an easy horse to find because he has a lovely pedigree and is lightly-raced (Newbury being only his 10^th start),” Australian Bloodstock director Jamie Lovett, who watched the race on his phone roadside at Maitland at 10.30pm en route to picking up his wife Kellie from a function, said today.

“We bought a good percentage of him after he had streamrolled his opposition by 13 lengths in a 2200m Carlisle Handicap in June (breaking the track record).

• 

“One of our new owners from Melbourne bought 70 per cent of our ownership, and got some of his crew involved.

“There were a few other guys after Wine Dark Sea, but we took a punt just the same as he hadn’t won a Group race to pass the qualifying condition for the Melbourne Cup (at Flemington on November 3).

“Now he’s done that, and he will go into quarantine in early September to come out to Melbourne.

“I’m unsure if he will have one run in Melbourne or go straight into the Cup.”

Wine Dark Sea is trained by Harry Charlton, and his brother Tom, who co-trains with John O’Shea at Royal Randwick, also hopes to have a Melbourne Cup runner in last month’s Grafton Cup winner King Pedro.

Australian Bloodstock has won two Melbourne Cups – Protectionist (2014) and Gold Trip (2022) – and the second dam of Ulysses gelding Wine Dark Sea, is by Monsun, the sire of Protectionist as well as other Melbourne Cup winners Fiorente and Almandin.

“We don’t know yet of course whether this horse might have plateaued, but he does look an ideal Melbourne Cup type,” Lovett said.

“He should get in with a nice weight and hopefully they run this year’s Cup like an Oakleigh Plate and then collapse 800m out as they did in Protectionist’s year.”

Wine Dark Sea’s Newbury performance was timely for Australian Bloodstock following the news that Al Riffa is sidelined with an injury and won’t be lining up for another Melbourne Cup tilt.

The Irish stayer ran a brave seventh from a wide barrier with 59kg topweight to Half Yours in last year’s Cup.

• 

Australian Bloodstock also is hoping another purchase Defiantly also can book a flight to Melbourne by winning in France next weekend.

“Defiantly is another lightly-raced four-year-old trained in Ireland by Joseph O’Brien,” Lovett said.

“He ran second over two and a half miles at Royal Ascot in June, then won easily over a similar trip at the Glorious Goodwood carnival on July 31.

“Defiantly is yet to win a Group race, and we’re hoping he can do that in the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay (3000m) at Deauville next Sunday night.

“The Kergorlay has been a great Melbourne Cup trial, with both Protectionist and Americain (2010) going on to do the double.”

On the local front, Australian Bloodstock’s Royal Supremacy trialled at the Beaumont track on August 3, finishing fifth in a 1000m heat to Kris Lees’ Under Focus, who caught the eye first-up in yesterday’s Listed Rosebud (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens after being luckless in the straight.

“Royal Supremacy has thrived with beach work under James Harding, and looked in fantastic order when he trialled,” Lovett said.

“He has been a terrific horse for connections, winning the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick last year and more recently the Group 2 Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm in June.

“He is likely to kick off in the Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield on Saturday week, and looks to be our Caulfield Cup horse (he ran fifth to Half Yours last year).

STORY JOHN CURTIS, AUGUST 16, 2026