Written by Richard Edmunds
Monday’s Listed TAB Canberra Cup and XXXX Gold Canberra Guineas unearthed a pair of contenders for bigger and better things through the Sydney autumn carnival.
The $250,000 Canberra Cup was won by the exciting stayer Mugatoo (Ire) (Henrythenavigator {USA}), who is undefeated in three Australian starts for Newcastle trainer Kris Lees.
His powerful performance at Canberra on Monday prompted big moves in Sydney Cup markets, which now have him as a $6.50 favourite for the 3200-metre event on April 11.
Ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, Mugatoo was the $1.90 favourite for the Canberra Cup and settled in a midfield position as the free-going Fun Fact (The Factor {USA}) opened up a big lead.
Fun Fact still had plenty to offer in the straight and looked hard to catch, but Mugatoo changed gears and swept past, racing to an emphatic victory by 2.25l. Fun Fact held second by more than a length from Maid Of Ore (Duporth).
Racing in the colours of Australian Bloodstock, Mugatoo has now won five of his nine starts. He began his career in England, winning races at Lingfield and Doncaster. Since joining the Lees stable, he has strung together three consecutive wins at Randwick, the Kensington track and now the Canberra Cup.
“He’s got a lot of followers already in his short career in Australia,” McEvoy said. “He’s exciting, isn’t he?
"He’s exciting, isn’t he? " - Kerrin McEvoy
“It looked his race today, with his light weight. I was just a little bit worried about getting too far back, so I decided to utilise his inside gate to a degree.
“It took him a little while to settle after I did that, so I was a bit worried that he might not find a nice rhythm for me. But to his credit, he settled into it beautifully from about the 1400-metre point, and then he finished the race off very nicely.
Mugatoo winning at Randwick
“The more I asked, the more he picked up. The ground is probably at its worst just coming up to the home turn, but he burned through that easily, so I was pretty confident turning in.
“He’s a lovely horse to ride, and a talented stayer, that’s for sure. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up.
“Obviously we’ve got a two-mile race here at the end of the carnival (Sydney Cup), so we’ll wait and see what happens. But there’s a lot more in store for him, that’s for sure.”
Carbine Club target for Guineas winner
The G3 Carbine Club S. at Randwick on April 4 is the goal for Godolphin gelding Promotions (Exceed And Excel), who went to a new level in Monday’s Canberra Guineas.
Promotions had won only one of his eight career starts prior to the $150,000 feature, but the James Cummings-trained 3-year-old raised his game for his first start at stakes level.
Promotions sat in third place for jockey Hugh Bowman, who never panicked despite the front-running Chat (Deep Field) kicking well clear of the field at the top of the straight.
Bowman sent Promotions out after the leader and he gradually wore him down, collaring him inside the last 50 metres for a narrow but authoritative win.
“I just rode him how he was travelling, and I thought he had more to give if I needed him to give it,” Bowman said.
“He did his job nicely. He enjoyed chasing the other horse. We were confident coming into it, and it was a really good win.”
"We were confident coming into it, and it was a really good win.” - Hugh Bowman
Following his strong finish to win the 1400-metre Guineas, assistant trainer Darren Beadman identified the 1600-metre Carbine Club S. as Promotions’ primary target for the carnival.
“He’s a very laid-back horse, a lovely type of horse who anyone can ride, but he knows where the finish line is,” Beadman said. “Once he got out today, he really put it to the other horse, and it paid dividends.
“He’d had only one win from eight starts before today, so it’s good to get this on his resume, and there’s probably bigger things in store for him now.
“James said that he will probably head towards the Carbine Club now.”
