Jockey Hollie Doyle © Photo Healy Racing
Hollie Doyle is set to partner Sea King in the Melbourne Cup after Harry Eustace’s gelding booked his spot in the Flemington showpiece by cruising to victory in the Bendigo Cup.
The five-year-old was making his debut for Eustace in the Group Three contest, having previously raced for Sir Mark Prescott in Britain, with his 18 starts encompassing five wins and a notable sixth in the Ebor last time out.
Subsequently purchased by OTI Racing and sent to Eustace, Sea King was well supported for the 12-furlong feature, with jockey Declan Bates riding with supreme confidence, allowing his mount to stride on round the field approaching the turn for home before pulling well clear in the straight.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Eustace said: “We now can’t wait to run him in the (Melbourne) Cup, should we pass the vets’ scans.
“Obviously, the Ebor form looks strong, finishing ahead of Geelong Cup winner Onesmoothoperator, and I think the two-mile trip should be fine.
“You’d have to think he’ll be competitive off the back of today’s win, so it’ll just be a case of whether he’s classy enough to go and win it.
“Declan Bates is unfortunately not able to do the weight in the Cup, so we’re lining Hollie Doyle up to take the ride, which would be a great booking.
“Based on his run today, if he can repeat that under Hollie, you’d like to think we’re going there with a live chance.”
Eustace and OTI Racing teamed up to finish fifth with Docklands in last Saturday’s Cox Plate and the trainer was delighted to see travelling companion Sea King sparkle on his Australian bow.
He added: “It was very exciting to see. We felt he’d really thrived in quarantine, but you never really know how well they are until they hit the track, so we were thrilled with how dominant he was in the end at Bendigo.
“It’s also a massive milestone for us as a team in winning our first Group race. It’s probably taken a little longer than we’d have liked, but to have achieved it in such an important race as we plot our way to the (Melbourne) Cup is huge.
“Any international winner is a big result too, especially in Australia at the moment as it’s becoming harder and harder to get horses running down here.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Terry (Henderson) and the team from OTI Racing. They took the plunge to buy him with this dream in mind and also to give us the confidence to send him down here alongside Docklands. Hopefully we can pull it off for them!”
Regarding the all-important medical examination, Eustace said: “Sea King will now undergo new CT scans on Thursday which will determine whether we’re allowed to run on Tuesday.
“He’s passed them before, and he’s not a younger horse like Jan Brueghel, so fingers crossed he’ll pass them, and we’ll be rocking and rolling on to the Cup.”
Impressive Cox Plate victor Via Sistina had been towards the head of the Melbourne Cup betting, but owners Yulong Investments have decided to bypass the Flemington highlight in favour of sticking at 10 furlongs for the Champions Stakes on Saturday week.
“We would desperately love to win a Melbourne Cup and we’ve probably got the best chance we’re ever going to have,” said Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox to Racing.com.
“But at the end of the day, the ultimate goal wasn’t the Melbourne Cup, it was the Cox Plate.
“The Melbourne Cup was then a bit of an afterthought, rather than the primary motivator – and afterthoughts tend not to end well on a racetrack.
“We all had to get our feet back on the ground, take all the emotion out of it and look at it analytically.”
