Top Victorian horseman Darren Weir has four nominees for the JRA Cup 2016 at Moonee Valley Racecourse this Friday evening as part of the Moir Stakes Night program.

Raw Impulse is one of fourth 2016 JRA Cup nominations for Darren Weir. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

A bumper 26 Cox Plate types make up the nominations for this year’s $200,000 Group 3 JRA Cup (2040m), the quality handicap run over the same track / distance as Australasia’s weight-for-age championship on October 22.

Four of the entries come from the record-breaking stables of last year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Weir including Makfi stallion Raw Impulse coming off a Listed Morphettville win by nearly five lengths over 1800m on September 17.

Raw Impulse holds three nominations across three days and two states this weekend also entered for the WFA Group 3 Craven Plate (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday and Sunday’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.

Former Perth Cup winning mare Real Love is another JRA Cup – Turnbull Stakes 2016 dual nominee for Weir, the Desert King six-year-old out to improve on a last start seventh to Jameka in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m).

Weir’s other two JRA Cup nominees are the imported Shamkiyr and seven-year-old Taiyoo chasing his first win since the Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes (2600m) in Adelaide back in February of 2015.

The most notable Cox Plate nominated gallopers in the JRA Cup mix this Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival include the John O’Shea-trained Tally and Tom Melbourne prepared by Lee & Anthony Freedman.

Street Cry four-year-old Tally improved on a Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) last (12^th) first-up at Caulfield in late August with a close second behind Royal Rapture in a 1700m Flemington handicap on September 10.

The stallion will improve the further he gets out this season having won the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at Moonee Valley in March before his Group 1 ATC Cup (2400m) third to Tavago in Sydney on April 2.

Tally is also nominated for the Turnbull Stakes over the same JRA Cup distance on Sunday.

He is joined in nominations for the Moonee Valley Group 3 by stablemates Arab Dawn and Tarquin.

Imported Dylan Thomas six-year-old Tom Melbourne is only lightly-raced for his age having won five of his 10 career runs to date.

His best win down under was in the Listed Albany Cup (2000m) run on a Heavy (10) track in March, and he comes off a sixth in the Naturalism Stakes from September 17.

Naturalism Stakes winning trainer Ciaron Maher has Set Square nominated for the JRA Cup on Friday night, the 2014 Crown Oaks winning mare also entered for a tougher Turnbull Stakes run on NRL Grand Final day.

She comes off a fourth to her stablemate in the Naturalism Stakes, which followed her third to Awesome Rock in the Group 2 Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) in her Moonee Valley debut.

Other notable entries include the Naturalism Stakes fifth placed Magnapal, the Danny O’Brien-trained Second Bullet and Pilote D’Essai for the Lindsay Park stable.

See below for the complete JRA Cup 2016 nominations, the final field and barriers along with markets at Ladbrokes.com.au set for release on Wednesday.

2016 JRA Cup Nominations

Moonee Valley Racecourse – 30/09/2016