The esteemed Bart Cummings held a famous conviction that horses required a minimum of 10,000 metres of racing experience before being capable of winning the Melbourne Cup. This guiding principle often led the legendary trainer to commence his spring preparations in the Aurie’s Star Handicap.

While such traditional training methodologies have largely been phased out, Saturday’s racing at Flemington may indeed serve as a pivotal launchpad for this year’s Melbourne Cup contenders.

Ciaron Maher plans to utilise the Melbourne Cup Carnival On Sale (1620m) as the initial stage for Shockletz’s campaign to secure a berth in Australia’s premier race.

The mare is being specifically targeted at the two crucial Melbourne Cup qualifying races: the Archer Stakes (2500m) scheduled for September 12, and The Bart Cummings (2500m) on October 3. The victors of these races will gain automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup field.

Jack Turnbull, National Assistant Trainer for Ciaron Maher Racing, stated that the stable had meticulously formulated the campaign well in advance.

“We’re trying to get her into The Archer,” Turnbull said.

“That’s our little plan, try and qualify her and then if that doesn’t work, there is The Bart Cummings.

“It’s been a long-term plan to work back from those particular races and get her in there.

“Her brother and her family have raced at those types of distances, and we feel she has got that quality.”

Shockletz, a sibling to the horse Horrifying, demonstrated continued improvement in staying events last season before being subjected to a carefully managed preparation this current campaign.

She competed in three races during the early winter period, followed by a brief freshen-up designed to bring her to peak fitness for the forthcoming major staying races.

“I’m really pleased with her, and she’s freshened up really well,” Turnbull remarked.

“She only had two weeks off and while she’s first-up she had three runs and she’s not going to be lacking fitness.

“Last prep we were conscious of going one too many and giving her the right amount of time out to have her for this prep.

“We’ve always had time for her and hopefully she repays us.”

Discover the latest Flemington odds with Australia’s leading Top 10 Betting Apps. Check out the betting sites for this race.

Chris Eubank Jr has not fought since his underwhelming rematch with Conor Benn, but the 36-year-old is now being targeted by a fierce knockout artist, who is willing to travel to London for the opportunity to face him.

Eubank scored an iconic win over Benn last April but when they rematched seven months later, he felt the full effects of a brutal weight cut, narrowly avoiding a stoppage defeat as he survived until the final bell on unsteady legs only to lose a wide unanimous decision.

Since then, the Hove-born contender has been advised to move up in weight and return to the super-middleweight scene, but he has also been linked to a catchweight clash with Michael Zerafa in Australia – a bout which would take place at 164lbs.

New York’s Edgar Berlanga has now thrown his hat into the ring though, after revealing on ‘The Last Stand’ podcast about his intentions to face Eubank before the end of the year.

“I would love to step into the ring to end the year with Chris Eubank Jr. I feel like that fight is going to be a big fight in London.

“I told Keith [Connolly], I said that I would rather not do it out here in America. I would rather go to London, where he is from [U.K.], you know what I am saying? We can make a big, big fight happen. He is on the radar.”

Berlanga’s most high profile fight came back in 2024 when he challenged Canelo Alvarez for his unified super-middleweight crown, suffering a unanimous decision defeat, one of two losses in his career after also coming up short against Hamzah Sheeraz.

He has since signed with Zuffa Boxing and in his debut with the company on Sunday he knocked Steven Butler out after seven rounds, recovering from a second-round knockdown to earn the 19th stoppage victory of his career.

In an interview with The Ring, Berlanga has now doubled down on his call-out of Eubank, hoping he can convince the Briton to swerve the Zerafa fight in favour of a clash on home soil.

“I’m looking forward to getting a real big fight with Chris Eubank. Let’s do it in London. It’s going to be big.”

Eubank maintains that he is currently a free agent, but it is unclear whether he is still contracted to Boxxer, with promoter Ben Shalom appearing to believe that their deal has not expired.

Danhausen has named his price for yet another major uncursing. He has shockingly asked for ten million dollars and that is something that he has never done before.

The Very Nice Very Evil star has been on the lips of all sports fans ever since he helped the New York Knicks win the NBA title in June. The Knicks had not won the NBA championship in 53 years and only did so after he lifted their curse.

He has since become a household name and has also appeared on a lot of sports channels where they spoke about his powers. Danhausen will be taking on Dominik Mysterio at SummerSlam which will be held in Minnesota.

He was posing for pictures with the fans when a fan asked him what would it take for him to uncurse the Minnesota Vikings, who have never won the NFL Championship. He jokingly said that it would take ten million dollars for him to uncurse the Vikings.

Danhausen makes bizarre request to the New York Knicks

The name Danhausen has been etched in the history of the New York Knicks. Ever since they won the NBA title, thanks to their curse being lifted, he has been praised by many of the Knicks players themselves.

After they won the title, the former AEW star made a bizarre request to the New York Knicks. He asked for a one day contract with the franchise so he can play and retire as a world champion. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, after the historic championship win, the former AEW star wrote:

“Danhausen is requesting a one day contract with The KNICKSHAUSEN so he may retire from basketball’s as a champion of the world”

It is the off season right now and there is not a lot of movement. However, given the kind of coverage and sensation the team has received from the WWE star, it should come as no surprise if they decide to adhere to the request and give him a one day contract.