Jumps campaign on hold for Mornington Cup fancy Annus Mirabilis

A jumps campaign has been put on hold for Stuart Webb’s stayer Annus Mirabilis who will line up in the Listed $300,000 Ladbrokes Mornington Cup (2400m) at Mornington on Saturday.

Annus Mirabilis, above, will head to the Sydney Cup after running in the Mornington Cup at Mornington. Photo by Jenny Barnes.

Annus Mirabilis, above, will head to the Sydney Cup after running in the Mornington Cup at Mornington. Photo by Jenny Barnes.

Webb purchased Annus Mirabilis for his group of stable clients from a Lloyd Williams dispersal sale with the view of sending him over the jumps but the Irish import has exceeded all expectations since joining the stable.

At his third run for the stable Annus Mirabilis was able to win a 2400m BenchMark 78 Handicap at Sandown on December 24 and then went on to win the Listed $150,000 Bagot Handicap (2800m) at Flemington on New Year’s Day.

A short let up followed before Annus Mirabilis worked his way back up in distance before scoring a tough win in the Group 2 $400,000 Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville on March 13.

Webb then mapped out a plan to run the six year old in the Group 1 $2m Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick on April 8, and will use the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup as his final lead up race before heading to ‘The Championships’.

“The Bagot was an afterthought, then the Adelaide Cup was an afterthought and now too the Sydney Cup,” Webb told racing.com.

“We had originally aimed him to try and have three runs pre-Christmas, then he was going to have a break and then heads towards a jumps campaign.

“To win a Bagot, I was thrilled with that, and then just over the moon when we won an Adelaide Cup.”

“Luckily we found him, and he’s found himself not yet in a jumps career.”

After the way Annus Mirabilis ran out the 3200m of the Adelaide Cup, Webb is very keen to get to Sydney for the Sydney Cup and is hoping for another top performance in the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup.

“It’s a race we will be doing our best in trying to win, but it’s probably a tick-over run in preparation for the Sydney Cup in two weeks,” Webb said.

“I think he is a genuine two-miler, he’s by Montjeu and most of them love the wet tracks and Sydney seems to be pretty wet at the moment so I think he’ll really thrive on that.”

Annus Mirabilis is at the healthy odds of $14 for the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au and is also in contention for the Sydney Cup at $13.

English stayer The Gold Trail is the clear cut favourite for the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup at $2.50 and the Charlie Appleby trained six year old is a winner of his last two starts, a 2400m Handicap at Doncaster in England in September last year and more recently in the US$175,000 Aabar Properties (2410m) at Meydan in Dubai on January 26.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.