2025 Melbourne Cup: Ethical Diamond wins at Royal Ascot
Ethical Diamond, raced by owners of stablemate Absurde, who ran seventh and fifth respectively in the Cup the past two years, won the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (2400m) by two lengths under champion jockey Ryan Moore.
'We will give him a little break and look at York – that is normally where we go from here,' Mullins said.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
'The Ebor would look possible. We would love to go to Melbourne.
'If we can get him qualified, that would be wonderful.
'We might see if we can get him Group-placed. I think he would suit the race (Melbourne Cup).'
• 'Zachariah the Electrifier': Jockey targets darts glory
Mullins has wanted to win the Cup since he fell in love with the race that stops a nation in 1993 as a spectator when Irish champion Vintage Crop, trained by Dermot Weld, triumphed at a Flemington.
Mullins has placed in the Cup twice previously with Max Dynamite.
Mullins travelled Vauban, now trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, and Absurde to Melbourne the past two years without luck.
The Ebor Handicap at York offers the winner a golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup.
• Moody, Purton, Tapp join turf legends in Hall Of Fame
Vauban won a 2800m handicap at Royal Ascot in 2023 and then qualified for the Cup with a Group 3 victory in Ireland.
Ethical Diamond must at the very least now place in a Group race at 2400m and beyond to be eligible (pass ballot clause) for Cup consideration.
An Ebor win would assure the emerging stayer a start in the Cup but also attract a weight penalty.
Vauban carried 55kg in 2023 Melbourne Cup, finished 14th of 23, and melted in hot conditions.
Royal Ascot has coincidently been held under Australian-like conditions this year, with a good to firm-rated track and temperatures nudging 30C.
Ethical Diamond revelled on the fast ground.
'There is a big win over hurdles in Ethical Diamond too but, at the moment, we will concentrate on Flat,' Mullins said.
'To me, I wouldn't think he loves this type of (fast) ground, but all the flat people tell me horses by Awtaad often like it.'
Gilbert Gardiner
Sports reporter
Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun.
@gilbertgardiner
Gilbert Gardiner
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
It's the skill and timing of the Irish that enabled Siobhan Rutledge to salute on The Irish
It's not the luck, it's the skill and timing of the Irish that enabled rising jockey Siobhan Rutledge to salute on gelding The Irish at Doomben on Saturday. If there was ever an omen bet for punters on a wet and cold day at the Brisbane track, this was the one, alongside $20 roughie Super Duck's win on a bog surface in the following race. Sunshine Coast trainer James Healy laughed at the irony of the situation, while praising Rutledge for her professionalism and willingness to follow instructions on the $16 chance in the Benchmark 78 race over 2200m on a heavy track. 'That was Siobhan's first ride for me, first win,' a beaming Healy said. 'I just wanted someone who I knew would give 110 per cent to the horse and listen to what I said and she rode him to an absolute tee. 'I said to her it's an omen – the Irish on The Irish – so you can ride him. 'She's on another horse of mine called Monastery on Wednesday (at Doomben) at 52.5 kg so hopefully she can get the same result.' Rutledge, who turns 27 next month, said she was 'having a ball' since arriving in Brisbane from Ireland in January. 'It's a very different style of racing over here but I'm enjoying it and I'm finding everyone's been helpful,' she said. 'It's nice to be able to ride with the lighter weights as well.' And she's drawn plenty of inspiration from fellow Brisbane-based Irish jockeys Robbie Dolan, the reigning Melbourne Cup champion, and Martin Harley, who rode crack colt Cool Archie to victory in the $1m Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm last month. 'They're the kind of guys you want to learn from when you come over, even if it's relating things from back home to here,' Rutledge said. ' Luke Dempsey has been very helpful to me as well, as have Robbie and Martin, just explaining how things work here as opposed to back home. 'I plan to stay here indefinitely, I want to give it a really good go. 'I'm getting my heels dug in and just trying to get rides on horses with chances. 'It's very competitive here, especially on Saturdays, but I've been lucky and I've had great support from (trainers) Gillian Heinrich and Chris and Corey Munce.' Rutledge said learning how to time her runs in races had been critical to her success in southeast Queensland, with the Irishwoman now having a 'clock' in her head. 'If there's anything that will stand me in good stead in the long run, I think it's learning how to judge pace, how fast you should be going, and nearly to the second,' she said. 'Because all the gallops are timed here and they're tracked, you can go back and revise them. 'You can remember 'oh I was going a little too quick' and you see that reflected on the computer. 'That's the biggest thing I'll take away from my experience here. It makes you have a clock in your head after several months of racing here.'
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Ashleigh Webb waits for ratification of Baltimore to Fastnet Rock record
Australian swimmer Ashleigh Webb has become the first woman to record a sub-5-hour time in Ireland's Baltimore to Fastnet Rock ocean swim. The 35-year-old from Newcastle achieved the feat on Thursday with a time of 4 hours and 57 seconds, with the time awaiting official ratification from The International Irish Long Distance Swimming Federation. She said she was not aiming to break any records with the swim. "The waters were very steady and calm … I just reminded myself to be prepared for that not to happen once I get out of the harbour and the protection of the inlet," she said. "As soon as we exited the harbour and the ocean sort of opened up, I could feel that I was going with the tide. After she made the lighthouse-adorned rock, 20 kilometres off the south coast of Ireland, she tried to climb up to cheer, but ended up falling back into the water, where she was met by two of her crew who swam over to break the news. "The boys just got there and just smothered me, and I hugged them back, and they were like, 'you swam it in 4 hours 57 [seconds],'" she said. "They were just incredible, and I was like, what are you talking about? That's absolutely amazing." Ashleigh's dad Mitchell Webb, who was keeping tabs on her swim from Newcastle, said it was incredible to see her achieve that time. "She's chuffed at the moment, she's beside herself," he said. "She's trained hard … both myself and my wife Lyn, we're very proud." Ashleigh Webb is the founder of The Kallan Lodge Library, a charity that establishes literature and music libraries for young people in mental health facilities. She established it with the parents of her close friend Kallan Lodge, who died by suicide at age 21 in 2011. "[Kallan] used to drive around listening to music and wondering what made songs mean so much … and he'd make fun of me for being such a nerd and reading all the time," Ashleigh said. "Books have always been there for me, music's always there for me, and it has this impact on me that's so significant. "When I was 17, I was taken to John Hunter Hospital … looking back, I just thought about the kids that were in there, and I thought, I can give them some records to listen to and I can give them some books to read." Mitchell Webb said literature, music, and swimming have been pivotal to his daughter becoming the woman she was. "The charity now has opened up in four hospitals around Australia, for struggling teenage kids," he said. Ashleigh said Kallan would be proud to know the impact the service was having. "We got a letter from ACT Health after we had put our library into their new mental health facility … [a young person] had sat for an hour reading a book and afterwards said: 'I forgot how lovely this is. To just sit by a window and read a book.'" Ashleigh's next challenge is the Dal Riata swim between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The swim will be a fundraiser for the libraries and is dubbed "Do Something Swim". "The sentiment of the Do Something Swim is that people care, but they don't always care to do something about it," she said. "But people with mental health struggles, all they can do is something. "Get up, get dressed, take a shower, get moving. Do something. Mitchell said he was "so incredibly proud" of Ashleigh's achievements in swimming and mental health advocacy. "You see her in tough times and hard times, and she just has this incredible strength that she has to pull herself through," he said. "People say to me, 'what's her strength?' I say to them, 'well, don't tell her she can't do it because she'll prove you wrong.'"
News.com.au
3 days ago
- News.com.au
Lee Freedman will take a step back from training to manage his brother Michael's new satellite stable on the Gold Coast
Five-time Melbourne Cup-winner Lee Freedman will take a step back from training to manage his younger brother Michael's newly announced satellite stable on the Gold Coast. Michael says the 'time is right' to set up an operation consisting of about 30 stables on the Glitter Strip in partnership with his Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman, who will take up the role as stable manager. From the new racing season starting on August 1, Michael Freedman will take over the stables currently occupied by Lee. 'I'll be looking to set up a satellite stable on the Gold Coast,' Sydney trainer Michael Freedman said. 'It's still in the process of being approved (by Racing Queensland) but hopefully next week it'll be finalised. 'I'm looking to send quite a few horses from Sydney up there all-year round to race, ideally in those mid-week and Saturday races. 'It gives me a base for Magic Millions, which is an important carnival now, and helps for the Brisbane winter as well because it's always very difficult to find stabling when you do bring horses up there. 'I think the timing is right and I'm looking forward to it.' Freedman said he was still 'working through' the new arrangement with his 68-year-old brother Lee, who has been training at the Gold Coast since March 2021. 'I think the timing's right and Lee and I had a good meeting about it yesterday (Thursday),' he said. 'I wouldn't probably be even contemplating this if Lee wasn't involved. 'Given that he's at a point where he's happy to be doing something along those lines, then it works well for me.' Freedman is following in the footsteps of Sydney's premier trainer Chris Waller, who also runs a satellite stable on the Gold Coast. In the late 1980s, Michael joined his three older brothers Lee, Anthony and Richard to form a highly successful training partnership that prepared more than 100 Group 1 winners, including five Melbourne Cup champions and four consecutive Golden Slipper winners. Michael spent almost a decade in Singapore and a brief stint in Hong Kong before branching out on his own at Randwick in April 2022 following a partnership with brother Richard which saw the two combine to win the 2021 Golden Slipper with Stay Inside. The highlight of his solo training career came last March when filly Marhoona won the Golden Slipper at Rosehill, just six weeks after making her debut at Canterbury. Michael said he planned to visit the Sunshine State more often once his new operation on the Gold Coast was fully established. 'I'll be looking to come up (to Queensland) a bit more during the year at various times,' he said. 'Certainly winter carnival and Magic Millions will be a key focus for me. 'We've got a couple of horses up there already that might run next Saturday and we'll start to trickle a few more up over the course of the next few weeks.' Gold Coast Turf Club boss Steve Lines said he was delighted to welcome a trainer of Freedman's calibre. 'Michael Freedman is one of the country's most respected horsemen and his decision to set up a stable here is a huge vote of confidence in what the Gold Coast has to offer,' Lines said. 'He joins a strong and growing cohort of top-tier trainers calling the Gold Coast home and will only further strengthen the quality of horses we have racing at the Gold Coast, given Michael's association with Godolphin and other prominent owners.'
