All is well with Sea King since his win in the Bendigo Cup and we’re very excited to be running him in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday. His vets’ scans after Bendigo came back clean, which was great news.
We’ve been drawn in stall one for the Cup, which on paper wouldn’t be the first berth you’d pick. However, given he was a little keen in the Bendigo Cup, it might just suit us to jump from stall one and allow Hollie Doyle to get covered up nicely and early. I’d much rather be drawn low than high, so we’re happy.
I think you often see a pace burn-up early in the Melbourne Cup as the runners compete for position. Once they’re into the race, the pace tends to slow down a good bit and entering the home straight it’s just about whether you’re good enough. To that extent, it probably will be run like the Ebor, which in our case, wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Hopefully the leaders go a good clip to give us a chance to work our way into the race.
I might be a little biased by I think the European raiders look to have massive chances. Onesmoothoperator won well at Geelong and our guy was obviously ahead of him in the Ebor.
In the last few years of the Cup, it’s been all about the quality horses, and I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the Mullins horses: Vauban and Absurde. Vauban has been mixing it with the Champion Stayer Kyprios and Absurde is an Ebor winner who ran a blinder in this race last year.
But look, it is a handicap at the end of the day, and this year, with the way it’s cutting up, there could be a surprise winner, and I suppose we’re just hoping it’s us.
I’m actually confident on the two-mile trip. Obviously, I want him to relax a bit better than he did in the Bendigo Cup, as he was a little keen in the blinkers that day.
The quick turnaround isn’t ideal, and it’s not the typical way you’d prep a horse for a big race. But it’s not the end of the world either, as Wednesday’s efforts might’ve just taken a bit of the freshness out of him so he can race more efficiently.
He seems to have come out of Bendigo really well and all the signs are positive. We won’t know how much Wednesday took out of him until the Cup itself, but nothing about how he looks at the minute suggests he won’t be in good form for Tuesday.
He looks a fairly straightforward ride, and I think Hollie will just want to get him settled behind horses from his draw. I’ve no concerns about the atmosphere and taking it all in. He was super relaxed when he had his racecourse gallop at Moonee Valley. Yes, Cup Day is a different kettle of fish, but nothing about his demeanour suggests it’ll be a problem.
It’s great to have my parents down here for the race. Dad James has always been a glass half-full kind of person and before Sea King had even won at Bendigo he’d backed him at 100/1 to win the Melbourne Cup. He’s literally enjoying the ride and feeling very clever with himself at the moment.
Unsurprisingly Sir Mark Prescott has been a gent about it all. He wrote a letter to us where he very modestly played down his role in the horse’s career. Sir Mark’s been in the game a long time and knows that certain horses suit certain racing jurisdictions very well. Sea King was obviously a very good horse for him, and we’ve probably not done a whole lot different with him since he joined us.
I can’t really take much credit for his immediate success anyway as Laura (Pike), who’s basically trained and ridden him since he’s been in quarantine, has done a huge job with him.
Oh yes, plenty of opinions from David my brother. He’s very much in favour of us keeping the blinkers on! But in all seriousness, it’s great to have someone like him to bounce ideas off, as he’s able to give us an outsider’s perspective.
While we’re focused on Sea King’s run in the Cup on Tuesday, it’s worth touching on Docklands. We’re very happy with him and he almost certainly goes to the mile-and-a-quarter Champions Stakes on Saturday at Flemington. It might surprise a few people that we’re keen to take on Via Sistina again, but I very much feel he’s improved since the Cox Plate.
I think Via Sistina will scare a lot of horses into the Mile, which ought to make the Champions Stakes into a smaller field and more tactical affair, which I think will suit us.
Fingers crossed and chat soon,
Harry