Mongolian Khan has the chance to complete the Australian Derby/Melbourne Cup double during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Co-trainer Andrew Forsman has confirmed that the 2015 Melbourne Cup will be the major 2015 Spring Racing Carnival goal for dual Derby winner Mongolian Khan.
Mongolian Khan was sent to the spelling paddock after he returned to New Zealand following his tough victory in the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Royal Randwick on April 6, but he has now been back in work for just over six weeks and is working towards a barrier trial at the start of next month.
Forsman said that Murray Baker is yet to work out the exact path that Mongolian Khan will follow during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival, but he told Racing Ahead that all effort will be put into getting the rising four-year-old to the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3.
“He will almost certainly do all his racing in Australia and will target the typical weight-for-age lead-ups,” Forsman said.
“I don’t think that Murray has mapped out an exact plan yet, but I am sure he will be kicking off around September sometime and working through those usual races.
“It is the Melbourne Cup – that is the race that the owners are dead keen to have a go at.
“He is qualified, he is an out and out stayer by the looks of things and he should get in with a reasonable weight.”
Mongolian Khan had a lengthy maiden racing campaign that started with a victory in a maiden at Te Rapa on September 10 and included victories in the Group 2 Waikato Guineas (2000m), Group 2 Avondale Guineas (2100m), Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Australian Derby, but he only spent five weeks in the spelling paddock following his return to New Zealand.
Forsman admits that Mongolian Khan did not have the longest stint in the spelling paddock, but he said that the son of Holy Roman Emperor had still taken plenty improvement out of the break and had developed into an imposing horse ahead of his 2015 Spring Racing Carnival campaign.
“He is really good and he is coming up really well,” Forsman said.
“He is such a natural athlete that he has almost come up too soon, so we are just getting him ticking over at the moment and we will get a trial into him early August over here.
“He came back on the first of June, so he didn’t have too long out after he came back from winning the Derby, but he has done really well and he has thrived in his short time out.
“He has always been a reasonably weak sort of three-year-old and being a colt has helped him.
“Now that he has thickened up as an older horse he looks the full package now.”
Mongolian Khan is currently available at 2015 Melbourne Cup odds of $17 with Ladbrokes and is on the second line of betting behind Japanese stayer Fame Game ($13).
