Three northern hemisphere-trained horses targeting the inaugural Golden Eagle in Sydney are settling into quarantine at Canterbury in preparation for the $7.5 million race at Rosehill.
The Golden Eagle (1500m) for four-year-olds will be run on November 2 and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Never No More, Richard Hannon-trained Beat Le Bon and Michael O’Callaghan-trained I Am Superman all arrived in Sydney on Saturday and have settled into the quarantine centre at Canterbury racecourse.
They are still three-year-olds to northern hemisphere time and get a 1kg allowance on the southern hemisphere-bred horses in the Golden Eagle.
Another Aidan O’Brien-trained horse, Antilles, has also made the trip and is being aimed at the $500,000 Rosehill Gold Cup on the same program as the Golden Eagle.
The horses did some light walking and pace work on the Canterbury Park Polytrack on Monday morning.
“It is rewarding to see the Golden Eagle attract widespread international interest in just its introductory year,” the Australian Turf Club‘s James Ross said.
“The three Golden Eagle contenders have arrived in fantastic order and we couldn’t be more pleased the way they have settled in to Canterbury.”
Group One winners Arcadia Queen and Brutal head the Golden Eagle market at $4 ahead of Classique Legend ($5).
Epsom Handicap winner Kolding and Silver Eagle winner I Am Inevitable are at $8.
Of the three recent international arrivals, Beat Le Bon and Never No More are at $26 with I Am Superman $51.
The O’Brien-trained July Cup-winning sprinter Ten Sovereigns ran in Saturday’s $14 million Everest in Sydney but the horse failed to beat a runner home.
Ten Sovereigns is also in the Golden Eagle nominations.