Australia’s best horse Sir Delius has virtually been ruled out of having a crack at the Melbourne Cup as he looks to Japan and Hong Kong to further his career beyond track this spring.
Sir Delius, a three-time Group 1 winner including the Turnbull Stakes and Queen Elizabeth, will unsurprisingly target the Cox Plate in Australia before possibly taking on the world.
Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock racing manager Steve O’Connor told Betsy decisions are being made with sights on a stud future for the five-year-old entire.
“He is a three-time Group 1-winning son of Frankel, which makes him an outstanding prospect for a stallion career, and we have to be mindful of that,” O’Connor said.
“He has been back in work for a couple of weeks and the Cox Plate is the obvious major target with a couple of runs leading into that.
“We will sit down with Gai [Waterhouse] and Adrian [Bott] and our fellow owners to lock down a program in the next couple of weeks.
“But the Melbourne Cup, being a two-mile race, will do little for his value as a stallion.
“He can race for bonuses in the Japan Cup because of his Queen Elizabeth win, but the race that really interests us is the Hong Kong Vase [over 2400m] internationally this year.”
Sir Delius was ruled out of last year’s Melbourne Cup when he failed Racing Victoria’s screening process, and it had a major influence on his autumn campaign, which finished with Queen Elizabeth success.
The prospect of the scans again makes the Melbourne Cup a high-risk move.
“It was very disappointing last year, what happened,” O’Connor said. “It made his autumn harder because we had to pass the vets before he was allowed to race, and it made Gai and Adrian’s job that much harder.
“They had him right for the Queen Elizabeth and he showed how good he is.”
The Racing Post has rated Sir Delius, the best product of Frankel racing anywhere in the world.
His preparation is likely to be restricted to Melbourne and Flemington starting in the Makybe Diva Stakes, before defending his Turnbull crown and the Cox Plate.
“A Group 1 mile would add to his stallion resume,” O’Connor said. “Sir Owen really wants to win a Cox Plate and is keen on racing him overseas if everything goes to plan.
“The Champion Stakes is there for him after the Cox Plate and it fits in well with going to Hong Kong.”
