Proven stayer Mahrajaan remains firmly on target for a crack at the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) despite the weather ruling out an intended lead-up outing.
The Shaun Ritchie and Colm Murray-trained chestnut was to have stepped out in last Saturday’s Group 3 Bart Cummings (2520m), but the camp decided to wait a week in the hope of a better surface.
“He’s guaranteed a run in the Cup now, he’s 23rd in order and as we know they run 24 so he’s in the race, but we didn’t want to run him if he’s not going to perform to his best,” Ritchie said.
“The rain arrived on the day at Flemington and the track opened up, he’s been woeful in the wet in the past and it was an unnecessary risk to run him.”
Ritchie is comfortable giving Mahrajaan just one more hit-out ahead of the Cup.
“He’s going to run in the Group 2 Herbert Power (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday and he’s probably not well weighted with 58kg, he’s got a bit more pudding than we would have liked,” he said.
“If he can perform well, then having a first Melbourne Cup runner would be fantastic and a great experience for myself and the owners.
“He’s an athletic sort of horse, clean-winded and he’s certainly in great spirits. I think his first two runs back in this time have been far superior to his earlier runs over shorter distances.”
Placed in both of his domestic outings over 1400m and 2200m at Ruakaka, Damian Lane has been booked to partner Mahrajaan at the weekend.
“He needs all of two miles to show his best as he’s proved in the past, so technically the Herbert Power will be short of his best distance,” Ritchie said.
“We’ll keep that in mind, but he can’t afford to just follow them around if he’s to justify his place in the Cup, so we need to see him run somewhere near his best.”
Mahrajaan’s victories in the Group 2 Auckland Cup (3200m) and Group 3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) emphasises both his stamina and the success of the stable’s first venture to Europe to source a quality distance performer.
The son of Kitten’s Joy was purchased for 75,000gns at the 2022 Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale.
“The Australian trainers say a lot how long it takes these imports to settle in and this horse exactly the same,” Ritchie said.
“I think it’s taken Mahrajaan 18 months to get used to the Australasian style of training and adapt to the environment.
“I’m still learning about these things, he’s the first one we got and we got another one from the July Sale who arrived last month.
“For him, going from an English summer into a New Zealand spring has been very, very easy but when they leave from England in their winter and arrive out here in the summer it hits them.”
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