DIFFERENT SPRING FOR VOW

Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare won't contest the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups this spring.

The tenacious stayer has run in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups three times each, with his best results coming in 2019 when he finished second in the Caulfield showpiece behind Japanese galloper Mer De Glace and then secured his famous victory on the first Tuesday in November.

Vow And Declare most recently raced in the Andrew Ramsden in May and trainer Danny O'Brien explained that he'll have a different campaign this spring.

"He had a little bit longer off, so he won't be aiming at the Cups, but we'll look to have him at the back end of the spring, potentially aiming up at the race he won last year, the Zipping Classic, that might be the target race for him," O'Brien said.

The Group 2 Zipping Classic will be run this year at Caulfield on December 2.

In other stable news, O'Brien reported that Young Werther has pulled up well from his win at Flemington last Saturday and that he'll be kept to 2000-metre races in the future.

"Every time we've stepped past that, other than when he just got beaten in the ATC Derby, he hasn't been as effective as what he is at the 2000m," he said.

O'Brien said that Young Werther's next assignment is likely to be in a G3 in Sydney next month.

Story by Ed Sadler for Racing.com

Pic by Racing Photos