{"id":8396,"date":"2026-05-10T06:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8396\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T06:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:49:10","slug":"lindsay-park-eyes-melbourne-cup-qualifier-for-the-western-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8396\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsay Park eyes Melbourne Cup qualifier for The Western Front"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lindsay Park has The Western Front<\/a> set for a Melbourne Cup-qualification raid on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The lightly-raced five-year-old has won three of the past four starts to earn a shot at the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m)<\/a> at Flemington.<\/p>\n

The Western Front charged to victory last start in a 2500m Benchmark 84 Handicap on Anzac Day at Flemington.<\/p>\n

\u2022 PUNT LIKE A PRO<\/a>: Become a Racenet iQ member<\/a> and get expert tips \u2013 with fully transparent return on investment statistics \u2013 from Racenet\u2019s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section<\/a>. SUBSCRIBE NOW<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Trainer Ben Hayes<\/a> said the progressive stayer and connections earned a chance to qualify for the Melbourne Cup<\/a> being in form at the opportune time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a step up in class (from last start) but his work has been very good,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good opportunity to try and qualify a horse for the Melbourne Cup and the ownership group are really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayes saddled 2018 Andrew Ramsden Stakes winner Sin To Win<\/a> in partnership at the time with father David and uncle Tom Dabernig.<\/p>\n

Hayes credited earmuffs as the crucial gear change the past two starts in particular to help The Western Front settle in races.<\/p>\n

The Western Front, a six-time winner from 16 starts, had a tendency to mix form and over-race previously.<\/p>\n

Hayes said the Anzac Day performance suggested The Western Front could handle the extra distance on Saturday \u2013 rising from 2500m to 2800m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key with him has been trying to get him to relax and since we put the earmuffs on in the race, he has been relaxing,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, he\u2019s a quirky horse but he\u2019s got the ability to do it \u2026 I think it\u2019s a race he can be very competitive in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayes, who trains in partnership with brothers JD and Will, said in-form sprinter Stoli Bolli<\/a> would contest the Listed Straight Six (1200m)<\/a> on Saturday at Flemington<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stoli Bolli won an 1100m Benchmark 78 at Flemington fresh then rebounded from a second-up Mornington defeat to win at Bendigo quite convincingly.<\/p>\n

Stoli Bolli has won four of 17 starts and placed on a further eight occasions, including multiple times at Flemington. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll run down the straight, a good opportunity (in stakes grade),\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n

Stoli Bolli absorbed a hot early speed at Bendigo and surged to win by 2-1\/2 lengths.<\/p>\n

Hayes saddled a double last Saturday at Caulfield with Simurgh<\/a> and Plymouth<\/a> victorious in respective assignments.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Lindsay Park eyes Melbourne Cup qualifier for The Western Front<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lindsay Park has The Western Front set for a Melbourne Cup-qualification raid on Saturday. The lightly-raced five-year-old has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9438,9834,9828,9823,9836,9832,368,9830,9833,9824,260,9835,9826,9822,9827,9829,9831,9825],"class_list":["post-8396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-ben-hayes","tag-crediting-earmuffs","tag-crucial-gear","tag-crucial-gear-change","tag-cup-qualifier","tag-david","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gilbert-gardiner","tag-in-form-sprinter","tag-luke-currie","tag-melbourne","tag-ownership-group","tag-progressive-stayer","tag-punters-racing","tag-racenet-melbourne-cup","tag-racenet-saturday-racing","tag-racenet-vic","tag-western-front"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}