Reigning Miracle Mile champion Don Hugo (Art major) will be a surprising absentee of two large upcoming harness racing functions and will be on the way to a spell.
Trainer Luke McCarthy said he thought it was best for the five -year -old Superstar to skip the $ 150,000 group 1 Len Smith Mile on menangle on 6 September and the $ 250,000 Victoria Cup of group 1 on Melton on October 18.
“He’s out. We waited a while to weigh things after the Inter Dominion, but it’s best to give him a good break now,” he said.
“Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have taken him to the big NZ race after the Miracle Mile and then gave him an enchantment because he has not been completely himself since.
“But we have the chance to do that now and concentrate on him back to his top for the beginning of next year and maybe even Brisbane in December.”
Don Hugo, who defeated in the Miracle Mile to Roem on March 8, won his first heat of the recent Brisbane Inter Dominion for a tiring eighth in his second heat after a scorching run. He then ran a fight fourth in the Inter Dominion final before jumping to Roem on July 19.
“I will continue to follow him while he is gone and when the timing works, we will look at the Sunshine Sprint and a fake -nap in December,” said McCarthy.
“What we really look at is the series of cups in Victoria, led by the Hunter Cup, early next year and then a crack at the Miracle Mile.
“That is why a considerable break is so important now.”
McCarthy’s Star Mare Eye Keep Smiling will continue after stretching her winning series to 10 races when she successfully defended her group 1 Golden Girl Crown in Albion Park on July 19.
“There is a race for her on Menangle on August 23 and then it all goes well, she goes to the boys in the Len Smith Mile,” he said.
“Then she will get her break because Jackie (Gibson, owner-Breeder) wants to take another embryo from her.”
Amazingly enough, Eye Keep Smiling’s first foal, a yearling foal from Champion Sire Bettors Delight, was born through an embryo transplantation process and will be sold in March at the sale of Sydney Nutrien Jaarling.
“She will come back and go to Victoria with Don Hugo early next year,” said McCarthy. “She will certainly race for another season.”
McCarthy’s immediate focus is also on keeping track of his unbeaten record in the richest armor race in the world, the $ 2.1 million tab Eureka on menangle on 6 September.
He won on Pick-up Drive Encipher in the inaugural running (2023) and trained and drove Don Hugo to win last year.
“We are very happy that hesitation has a lock thanks to ‘Singo’ (John Singleton). He has had a strong winter campaign in Brisbane, so only needs a test and one approach race,” he said.
McCarthy weighs whether he wants to run exciting new stable addition Kingman in the Len Smith Mile.
“We threw him in the deep last Saturday and he ran a great race on a wet track, which he didn’t really like,” he said. “Given that he had only won his metro Maiden race the week before, it was a great run.”
Through Adam HamiltonFor Harness Racing Australia
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