Melbourne Cup winner set for overseas campaign

Reuters - Wed, 04 Nov 10:26:00 2009

The connections of Melbourne Cup winner Shocking will consider taking their horse to Dubai and Royal Ascot next year after capturing Australia's richest race.

2009 Melbourne Cup Jockey Brown rides Shocking to victory ahead of McEvoy on Crime Scene - 0

The four-year-old's owner, construction magnate Laurence Eales, said he wanted to continue racing the horse even though his value as a stallion had significantly increased after his stirring win at Flemington on Tuesday.

Eales said he was seriously contemplating an overseas campaign for his impressive stayer and the Dubai World Cup meeting and possibly Royal Ascot were the most likely targets.

"I'd like to race him on," Eales said. "I think he'd go great... but that's something that I'll have to have a think about and depends what offers we get and where we go."

Shocking's trainer Mark Kavanagh is already planning to visit Dubai next year after Whobegotyou, a stablemate of Shocking that is also owned by Eales, was invited earlier this year after establishing himself as one of Australia's best horses.

"Certainly there's every possibility that they mentioned too that Shocking would be invited too if he won the Melbourne Cup," Kavanagh said.

"But we would have to wait to see if the horses are all right before we even consider that."

Reuters

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account