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Rebel Dane; Nashville; Sangster; Havana Gold; Corey Brown
* CRACK sprinter Rebel Dane will get his first look at Moonee Valley on Thursday as part of his prep for the Manikato Stakes under the lights on Friday week.
It will be a “soft” introduction as trainer Gary Portelli wants to familiarise him with the course before giving him a serious track gallop nat the course next Tuesday.
Race jockey Glen Boss will be in the saddle on Thursday. It will be a big morning for Boss as his Cox Plate ride Puissance De Lune is also scheduled to have a gallop on the course proper.
* KIWI star Nashville will make a hit and run visit to Melbourne for the $1 million Emirates Stakes at Flemington on November 9.
Trainer Adam Bull had spent a week weighing up a Melbourne trip after Nashville came from last to be beaten a nose in the G1 Spring Classic at Hastings on October 5.
Bull's son Harry said the five-year-old had done well and would have a jump out before he is flown to Melbourne.
Nashville, unplaced only once in six starts over 1600m including a G1 win in the Haunui Farm Classic, resumed with a sprint win at Wanganui followed by a third in the G1 Windsor Park Plate before his last start second.
“He was really good in the Classic. He's a proven weight-for-age miler and he'll go over for the one race and then come home,” Bull said.
* THE news isn't so good for Kiwi stayer Sangster as his Melbourne Cup bid is over, adding to a disappointing spring carnival for his co trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
The Victoria Derby and Auckland Cup winner had been under a cloud since he failed on the hard Flemington track in the Turnbull Stakes on October 5.
“He's still a bit scratchy and you have to be 100 per cent going into races like the Moonee Valley Cup and the Melbourne Cup,” Young said.
He'll go home for a spell and then concentrate on a long, slow build-up for Melbourne next year.”
Sangster and stablemate El Roca, an unlucky fifth in last Saturday's Caulfield Guineas, will be flown home this week.
* HIGH class European miler Havana Gold, who arrives in Melbourne on Wednesday, has been transferred from Richard Hannon to French trainer Mikel Delzangles for his campaign in Melbourne.
Havana Gold, winner of the G1 Jean Prat, is a leading contender for the $1 million Emirates Stakes at Flemington on November 9.
* COREY Brown will return from Singapore to renew his association with the import My Quest For Peace for Peter Moody in Saturday's Caulfield Cup.
Brown rode My Quest For Peace in last year's Caulfield Cup when he finished fourth when trained by Luca Cumani.