Mongolian Khan has made an amazing recovery from the colic attack that saw him miss the Melbourne Cup and co-trainer Andrew Forsman has confirmed that the Caulfield Cup winner is ready to start galloping as his preparations for the autumn ramp up.
Mongolian Khan remains on track to return to Australia for the 2016 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Mongolian Khan was set to start the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) as one of the favourites following his impressive victory in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), but he suffered a nasty colic attack in the lead-up to the event that forced his scratching.
The Holy Roman Emperor entire lost almost 50 kilograms as a result of the bout of colic, but he was able to quickly recover from the setback and has continued to impress Forsman with the way that he has bounced back.
“He is on target and we are very happy with him,” Forsman told Sky Racing HQ.
“His weight is increasing from week to week and he looks a really healthy horse.
“His weight is pretty much back to where it was when he won the Caulfield Cup and he is ready to star galloping.
“He just loves being in work and being a racehorse.
“He is the same old horse – Opie Busson came down and rode him in track work the other day and he said that you wouldn’t know anything had happened.
“He can’t fault him, we can’t fault him and if you hadn’t known he had been through that ordeal in the spring then you wouldn’t be any the wiser.
“Hopefully when he has a few strong gallops under his belt he keeps going in the same way.”
Murray Baker revealed at the end of last year that the Group 1 The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 26 and the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on April 9 will be the major 2016 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival targets for Mongolian Khan.
Forsman refused to commit to an exact path for Mongolian Khan, but he did admit that The Championships would be the target for his star galloper.
“The ultimate would be to get him back to Sydney for The Championships,” Forsman said.
“That is the goal anyway – whether it comes off and what races we use as lead-ups will really depend on a trial and galloping and how he goes in the next few weeks.”
Mongolian Khan is currently available at 2016 The BMW odds of $9 and he is an equal favourite in betting alongside Our Ivanhowe ($9) and Winx ($9).
