A NUMBER of unplaced Emirates Melbourne Cup horses got a final chance at spring riches at Sandown on Saturday with Who Shot Thebarman, 11th at Flemington this year and third the year before, cashing in on the $300,000 Group 2 Zipping Classic.

Sent out the favourite in the seven-horse field, the Yamanin Vital gelding had little trouble with the 2,400 metres under weight-for-age conditions to post a seventh length win over the Irish-bred Sea The Stars gelding Tall Ship and the South African-bred Silvano mare Do You Remember.

Over the more familiar distance of 3,200 metres, the $150,000 Listed Sandown Cup was dominated by the only three of the 14 horse field to contest the Emirates Melbourne Cup. A disappointing 18th at Flemington having got too far back, the Sheikh Hamdan-owned Almoonqith redeemed himself with an impressive win.

“I think Almoonqith will head to Sydney for the Sydney Cup,” said co-trainer David Hayes. “He’ll be an ideal horse for that and back here for next year’s Melbourne Cup. He’s shown Sheikh Hamdan that he can run two miles now and he’s a promising young stayer. This is his first prep so I’d expect him to be better in the autumn.”

The US-bred Dynaformer entire defeated the Irish-bred Montjeu gelding The Offer (eighth at Flemington) with the British-bred Dansili gelding Grand Marshal (21st) third.

Cobalt charged get three and five years

FATHER and son training partners Lee and Shannon Hope have been disqualified for three and five years respectively after being found guilty of deliberately administering cobalt to three of their horses.

The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary (RAD) Board handed down the penalties to the Kilmore-based trainers on Tuesday bringing an end to the first of four major cobalt cases in Victoria. Trainers Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh are due to have their cases heard concurrently from November 30th with Peter Moody’s scheduled for December 14th.

Three of the Hope-trained horses tested above the cobalt threshold of 200 micrograms per litre of urine with the board having the option to disqualify the Hopes for up to nine years.

Each charge of deliberately administering cobalt carries a minimum three-year disqualification.

The RAD Board identified Shannon Hope the more culpable of the pair as he was in charge of the stable’s feed, supplement and medical regime. His was hit with a three-year penalty plus an extra year for each of the two other horses whie Lee Hope was disqualified for three years for each horse to be served concurrently.

The RAD board, comprising Judge Russell Lewis, Brian Forrest and Geoff Ellis, released their findings the previous Thursday, stating that the Hopes were not credible witnesses and believing that both Lee and Shannon knew far more about cobalt than they were prepared to concede. “I’ve been advised not to say anything. We’ll have to wait and see,” said Lee Hope on the possibility of an appeal.