Oopy MacGillivray may have known for over three months that The Map had secured a spot in this year’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), but the Murray Bridge-based trainer is still coming to terms with it.
The reality set in late last week when MacGillivray, who trains in partnership with Dan Clarken, paid the $1,500 Melbourne Cup entry fee for the six-year-old mare.
“It always gives you a little bit of adrenaline surge, you just feel it and think, ‘it’s getting real now,’” MacGillivray said about the entry.
The Map earned her place in the November 5 race by winning May’s Listed Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m), which offers a Melbourne Cup ballot exemption.
She returned to action with a ninth-place finish in the Listed Leon Macdonald Stakes (1400m) at Morphettville on August 24, finishing 3.7 lengths behind the winner.
Her next race will be the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on September 21, followed by a step up in distance for the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m), before concluding her Melbourne Cup preparations in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 23.
“We buy horses like her thinking that we’ll target our autumn carnival with an Oaks or something like that; that’s the sort of dream you have,” MacGillivray reflected on the $35,000 Adelaide Magic Millions yearling purchase.
“The Melbourne Cup dream wasn’t really on our radar when we bought her, but she just keeps improving.”
The Map is currently a $21 chance with horse racing bookmakers for the Melbourne Cup.
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