In-form New Zealand jockey Opie Bosson will pull on the Godolphin blue in the Group One Mackinnon Stakes.
Bosson will ride Magic Hurricane, who will be joined by stablemate Contributer in Saturday’s 2000m weight-for-age race at Flemington.
Magic Hurricane
Godolphin’s Australian retained jockey James McDonald rides Contributer who runs in the Mackinnon after being withdrawn from last Saturday’s Cox Plate.
Sam Clipperton was originally going to ride Magic Hurricane but with the young Sydney jockey getting down to 49kg to ride Thousand Guineas winner Stay With Me in the Group One Myer Classic on Saturday, trainer John O’Shea made the decision to book Bosson.
“I didn’t want Sammy overtaxing himself,” O’Shea said.
“It’s a shame for him but he’s got his whole career ahead of him.
“We made the decision to give him an easy day.”
Bosson has made an impact during the Melbourne spring with four stakes wins in the past two weeks including the $3 million Caulfield Cup on Mongolian Khan.
He also won last Saturday’s Group Two Crystal Mile on Mongolian Khan’s stablemate Turn Me Loose who defeated Godolphin’s Bow Creek.
Magic Hurricane won the Group One Metropolitan (2400m) last start but failed to make the field as an emergency in the Caulfield Cup.
Contributer and Magic Hurricane each galloped solo on the course proper at Flemington on Tuesday.
“They looked to just stretch their legs nicely. It’s a good surface and they just looked happy,” O’Shea said.
O’Shea said it had taken longer than he expected to get Contributer fit after an injury-enforced spell earlier this year, but he was pleased with his last-start fifth in the Caulfield Stakes.
Trainer Chris Waller is favouring the Mackinnon for Beaten Up who is also entered for the Lexus Stakes on Saturday.
Beaten Up sits at No.24 in the Melbourne Cup and a win in either race would cement his position in the field.
