Man of the moment Murray Baker has already claimed the Caulfield Cup and Seymour Cup in recent days.
Next, Maygrove will try to add the Geelong Cup to the stable’s recent success in Victoria.
Maygrove lines up in Wednesday’s $300,000 Geelong Cup (2400m), only days after star stablemate Mongolian Khan raced to victory in the $3 million Caulfield Cup on Saturday and Turn Me Loose won the $150,000 Seymour Cup a day later.
Winner of the Group Two Wellington Cup in January, Maygrove has had three starts in Melbourne this spring, finishing 11th in the Heatherlie Handicap, seventh in the Harry White Classic and then fourth in the Group Three Bart Cummings (2500m) on October 4 at Flemington.
New Zealand-based Baker said Maygrove was improving all the time this campaign.
But whether he can add another Cup to the stable’s recent haul remains to be seen.
“We’re just happy to get whatever we can get,” Baker said.
He said Maygrove has taken a bit to get into shape this campaign.
“He carries a bit in condition but he’s starting to tighten up a bit now which is good,” Baker said.
“His last run was very good, I thought, for fourth in The Bart Cummings and that was a good field.
“I think he’s improved a lot in the last couple of weeks.”
Maygrove is at $15 in early markets.
Opie Bosson won the Caulfield Cup and Seymour Cup on the Baker-trained horses but Patrick Moloney has the ride on Maygrove who till holds a Melbourne Cup nomination but is 50th in the ballot and lowly weighted on 50kg.
He would be eligible for a weight penalty if he managed to win on Wednesday, but Baker said: “He wouldn’t get in, I don’t think.”
He said they were not hell-bent on qualifying Maygrove for the Melbourne Cup, with country Cups such as the Bendigo Cup on the radar.
The Roger Charlton-trained Quest For More, topweight with 59kg, and the Ed Dunlop-trained Manndawi are the two internationally trained runners in the capacity field of 17 and one emergency.
Quest For More, 26th in the latest Melbourne Cup ballot, didn’t gain a start as the first emergency in the Caulfield Cup and has barrier 16.
Quest For More and Manndawi will be out to join Media Puzzle (2002), Bauer (2008), Americain (2010), Dunaden (2011) and Gatewood (2012) as northern hemisphere-trained winners.
