THE JERICHO CUP: A FIVE-AND-A -HALF MINUTE ENDURANCE TEST FOR BOTH HORSE AND RIDER

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Australia’s longest flat race, the 4600m Jericho Cup, which will take place at Warrnambool this Sunday, has attracted a full field of fourteen runners (with four emergency acceptors).

The race is a BM90, high weight race with a minimum weight of 65kg … which is the weight that will be carried by fifteen of the eighteen carded runners (including emergencies) with only Will John (70kg), Budd Fox (66kg) and Heberite (65.5kg) carrying more than the minimum weight in a race which translates into a gruelling endurance test for both horse and rider.

The Jericho Cup, which salutes the bravery displayed by the Australian Light Horsemen and their horses during World War 1, was taken out last year by the Symon Wilde trained Count Zero in a boil-over.

Wilde has two runners, American In Paris and Beachgoer, in this year’s edition of the race who both finished in second place in their respective last outings.

The training partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, whose runners Dambulla and Wil John had to settle for the minor placings behind Count Zero last year, also have two representatives in Sunday’s line-up in the form of Wil John and Heberite.

Maher and Eustace won the Jericho Cup with Ablaze in 2019.

Wil John won the Grand National Hurdle over 4200m on August 1 when coming home by a comfortable four length margin. He is the only horse in the race to have won beyond 3800m. Those credentials, as well as the fact that he comes into the race with five wins (which came in a row) from his last six starts, will see him highly regarded by punters here.

His stable companion Heberite has won over 3800m and will also arrive at Warrnambool with very positive form behind his name, having won both of his lead-up races into the Jericho Cup.

Heberite is one of two horses looking to complete a hat-tricks of wins in the Jericho Cup, a goal which will also be pursued by the James Ponsonby trained Will To Excel.
The 2021 Jericho Cup carries prize-money of $304 000 with the winner receiving $150 000.

Every one of the runners in the race will received a share of the prize-money pool with the payout diminishing according to the finishing order all the way down to fourteenth place.

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