Lindsay Park will be the new home for the well fancied English stayer Muntahaa after he runs in the 2018 Group 1 $7.3m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.
Yucatan, above, is the favourite for the 2018 Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Muntahaa is one of eleven internationally trained horses to compete in this year’s Melbourne Cup but the John Gosden trained six year old will be left in Australia to do his future racing under the eyes of the Lindsay Park Team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
The highly rated English stayer is marked at $11 for the Melbourne Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au and is coming off a comprehensive win in the £500,000 Ebor Handicap (2787m) at York in England on August 25.
English jockey Jim Crowley will be making the journey down under to ride Muntahaa who has drawn barrier thirteen in the Melbourne Cup.
Angus Gold, racing manager for Shadwell Stud which owns Muntahaa, revealed that Muntahaa would remain in Australia after the Melbourne Cup under the care of the Lindsay Park Team.
“A horse like this, he’s a five-year-old gelding, he’s got little mileage on the clock and he’s got a lot of talent,” Gold told AAP.
“The racing here, A it’s fantastic but B there’s huge prize money compared to what we have in Europe. To me it makes a lot of sense for him to stay here.
“If he takes to it mentally he’s the sort of horse who could win a fair bit of prize money.”
Aidan O’Brien’s impressive Herbert Power Stakes winner Yucatan is the ruling $6 favourite for the Melbourne Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au ahead of the English raiders Magic Circle and Cross Counter at $9 while the Lindsay Park Team will saddle up $26 chance Ventura Storm.
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