Long John can win the Caulfield Guineas but there are a few nagging doubts to be seriously taken into consideration.

This is far from being a high quality field and the form guides clearly paint that picture, there is no All Too Hard or Helmet this time around, the three year olds have not been as dominant as in previous years.

Long John is the favourite, he is drifting slightly in the markets, it is not a cut and dried case from that barrier position, up against the rails.

One can hardly forget how poorly he was ridden in the Guineas Prelude, the Snowden stable could offer no excuses, except to say he was ridden too far back in the field.

He will need to begin well from that gate and hold his position; otherwise he is going to be shuffled back into the field, which will make the job much harder.

Éclair Big Bang hasn’t done much wrong to date; his form line reads well, he should be in the race for quite a while.

He is in there with a big chance, while being impressive in the Prelude he has drawn an ideal gate, he is a genuine chance.

Divine Calling showed a good sharp sprint at the end of the Stutt Stakes, at Moonee Valley, and is the only runner in the race that has won over 1600 metres at his last start.

The stable wraps are huge about Prince Harada, he now has to stand up and deliver, excuses have been offered for previous defeats, he has to be there when the whips are cracking if he is the real deal.

He will need to do everything right from the wide gate as there is likely to be a lot of pace from those drawn on the inside, he may have the job ahead of him to get across.

A Ballarat Maiden, followed by a 1200 metres win at Moonee Valley, back in June, is the only winning form to recommend him.

Eliza Park International has purchased the Irish mare, Voleuse de Coeurs, with the intention of running her in the Melbourne Cup.

The mare, formerly trained on The Curragh by Dermot Weld, is a winner of the Irish St Leger and is fully qualified for the Cup with 54 kg.

She is a five year old to northern hemisphere time, with a record of five wins from 13 starts, with three wins over 3200 metres.

Now that Voleuse de Coeurs has been declared as a definite runner in the Melbourne Cup, she has shortened considerably in betting.

The mare has been purchased by a syndicate, including the chairman of Eliza Park International, Mr Ting Kong Cheng, who is destined to become a serious player within the thoroughbred industry.

Voleuse de Coeurs entered quarantine in Newmarket last Thursday after reportedly travelling well from Ireland; she will arrive in Australia Caulfield Cup day, coming out of quarantine on Derby Day.

She will enter the Flemington stables of Michael Moroney, he has a great record with stayers, as most ex New Zealanders have, he is one of the best in the business having trained Brew to win the Cup in 2000.

No rider has been selected for the mare at this stage, there is still time to pick up a good rider, there will be no shortage of competent jockeys waiting in the wings, not tied down to a Cup mount.

The imported mare has an intriguing pedigree that could easily throw breeding buffs into turmoil.

She is by Teofilo, a European champion two year old winning at his only five starts at that age, from Vadorga by Grand Lodge; she was only placed at 3 in France.

As Teofilo remained unbeaten, and is by Galileo, an English Derby winner and a noted sire of stayers, the plot deepens; obviously Galileo has a strong influence in the pedigree of the Melbourne Cup aspirant.

Voleuse de Coeurs winning the Irish St. Leger

Further penalties were announced yesterday for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Seville, for his win in the Metropolitan Handicap, has earned a penalty of 1 kg for the Caulfield Cup, which takes him to 55 kg and 18^th in order of entry, while he has also been penalised 1 kg for the Melbourne Cup to 54.5kg.

While Araldo, who protested successfully against Sea Moon in the Bart Cummings Quality, has incurred a 1 kg penalty for the Caulfield Cup, he is now 40^th in the order of entry and a ½ kg for the Melbourne Cup, taking his weight to 50.5 kg and 66^th in the order of entry.

Third declarations, for the Caulfield Cup at noon today, and first declarations for the Melbourne Cup also at noon.

Happy Trails is back to his best and a serious Cox Plate contender now, after an outstanding performance to win the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

Before we attempt to make a case for any of the beaten division, forget all the hard luck stories, they will always be there, winning is still the name of the game.

With no excuses needed, it was Happy Trails that came up trumps, to the delight of his trainer, Paul Beshara, plus a brilliant ride from jockey Dwayne Dunn.

The winner, an $11,000 purchase out of the Magic Millions Sales in Adelaide, has proved a bargain, extending his stake earnings to $1.589 million.

Trainer, Paul Beshara, was on cloud nine after the win, “we are back again to have another crack at the Cox Plate,” he said

Happy Trails was one of the few horses that were running on in the Underwood Stakes, which was run at a farcical pace.

The Turnbull was a different story with an even pace set by Glencadam Gold, it was a more genuine pace that suited horses getting back in the field.

Glen Boss gave the favourite, Puissance de Lune a, great ride from the inside gate, he was the first to begin and actually led for a few strides before Glencadam Gold took up the ascendency and led to nearing the home turn.

Happy Trails about to claim Puissance de Lune, partly hidden.

Boss never covered an inch of ground, he had the run of the race, all was ready to pounce at the opportune moment.

The favourite shot away full of running, even when the challenges arrived he was holding them all at bay, until Happy Trails nailed him in the last couple of strides.

Boss commented afterwards, “ the track was hard and the horse was feeling his joints,” he will now go onto the Cox Plate in three weeks time, that will determine whether he proceeds onto the Melbourne Cup.

Fiorente staged an outstanding Melbourne Cup trial, he came from last at one stage to finish a close up fourth, his sectionals in the straight were far better than the three placed horses, he is right on track for the Melbourne Cup.

Hawkspur didn’t lose any admirers either, from a Cup point of view; he is ticking over nicely at this stage, while Silent Achiever, from New Zealand, was doing her best work when the post was reached.

The Australian Cup winner, Super Cool, out of the Mark Kavanagh yard, and the Sydney mare, Royal Descent, were both disappointing.

Royal Descent has been displaced as favourite for the Caulfield Cup by Hawkspur, he is now the $5 favourite for the race in two weeks time.

Jet Away’s run was also impressive in the Turnbull Stakes, as Fawkner cannoned into him at a crucial stage of the race in the straight, otherwise he could have been placed.

The intention is to start in the Caulfield Cup, but maybe he is just one run short of peak fitness for the tough 2400 metres at The Heath, as it was his only run since winning over Easter at Caulfield.

David Hayes would dearly love another run under the horse’s belt, but that is not going to happen.

Trainer Paul Beshara show his gratitude to Dwayne Dunn

Polanski fought off a determined challenge, in the straight, from Epic Saga, to score a narrow win in the U C I Stakes at Flemington.

Whether he is a definite Derby chance, more will be known after he runs in the Norman Robinson Stakes in two weeks at Caulfield.

He was given a great ride by Dean Yendall, he had the colt poised ready to pounce on the leader, Rockford, when heads where turned for home.

The colt responded well to the hard riding of Yendall, who had him in a handy position throughout but whether he will get the extra ground, and class, to win a Derby remains to be seen.

Rockford was taken to the lead from the outset by Brett Prebble, he started a pronounced favourite, he was a spent force at the top of the straight, it was a disappointing performance.

The run was quite contrary to his win at Caulfield when he was ridden by Damian Oliver, a decision will be made in a few days if continues with a Derby preparation.

Famechon turned in a nice run, he remains a maiden after five starts but is not far off winning a race on that performance.

He is in the stable Michael Moroney, a past master at training stayers, and he has a couple of Derby winners to his credit.

Polanski with Dean Yendall up