Another Melbourne Cup On The Agenda For Max Dynamite

Trainer Willie Mullins has confirmed that he is keen to bring 2015 Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite back to the Australia for another tilt at ‘the race that stops a nation’.

Max Dynamite finished second behind Prince Of Penzance in the 2015 edition of the Melbourne Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos

Max Dynamite finished second behind Prince Of Penzance in the 2015 edition of the Melbourne Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos

Max Dynamite has not been seen at the races since he finished a fast-finishing second behind Prince Of Penzance in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3 and he will spend two weeks in the paddock before he returns to light work at the end of next month.

Mullins is yet to decide on the exact path that Max Dynamite will follow during the 2016 European Racing Season, but he revealed that the Group 1 Gold Cup (4023m) at Royal Ascot would be the Great Journey geldings major target.

“He is on a break at the moment,” Mullins said.

“He is out during the day and in at night.

“We will bring him back in on the first of February with a view to going for the flat season.

“The key meetings this season will be the Ascot Gold Cup and the Melbourne Cup.

“We will start him off on the flat somewhere over a mile and a half.

“Whether we travel to England or find something in Ireland I am not sure, we will see that when the time comes.

“He will have one maybe two runs into the Gold Cup, he is a horse that is easy enough to get ready at home.”

Max Dynamite was well-backed in the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup and he showed an impressive turn-of-foot after he found clear running in the final stages of the race to finish second.

Mullins said that colourful owner Rich Ricci greatly enjoyed his experience in Australia during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival and is keen to send Max Dynamite back for another crack at the Melbourne Cup.

“It is a hell of a prize, so we will be looking forward to coming back,” Mullins said.

“The season has hot to go right and he has to come back in good form.

“I was talking to the owner last night and he was very keen to come back – he really enjoyed his time out there last year.”

Max Dynamite is currently available at 2016 Melbourne Cup odds of $17 with Ladbrokes and he is equal favourite with Japanese stayer Fame Game ($17) and Aidan O’Brien-trained Order Of St George ($17).

Gai Waterhouse-trained Fiorente is the only horse in the past 20 years to win the Melbourne Cup after finishing second a year earlier.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.