There are plenty of locals engaged in Saturday’s Cranbourne Cup, but the horse who shapes as the most popular winner at the meeting goes around on the undercard.
The reaction should Megamea win the $175,000 Rosemont Stud Fillies & Mares Pendant (1400m) is likely to surpass any local victory in the $500,000 feature.
Megamea has long had a local connection, albeit not always with the man who puts the polish on her now, Luke Oliver.
The six-year-old daughter of Master Of Design was formerly trained by Udyta Clarke, the extremely popular Cranbourne local, who was forced to hand over the reins to her small team after suffering a serious medical episode last year.
Clarke is on the road to recovery and can now attend the races, but remain incapable of doing all the work required to train, and while Oliver said he felt pressure when first asked to train horses for Clarke, the way Megamea has responded has put him at ease.
“I do and I did (feel pressure) but I’m just fortunate that the horse has responded to that pressure and stepped up every time that we’ve asked her to compete,” Oliver said.
“We went to a benchmark 64 at Wangaratta for her first start for the stable, she ran fourth and Mrs Clarke made the journey up there and we were really happy with that.
“To think that we’ve been running in Group races and hopefully we’re a great chance in a feature race on Cranbourne Cup Day is amazing.”
Since that Wangaratta fourth placing last December, Megamea has won three times, including the $150,000 Listed Leilani Series Final (1400m) at Flemington on Finals Day, and finished sixth, beaten just 1-3/4 lengths, in the Group 2 Rose Of Kingston Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
It shows that Oliver has done a good job with Megamea, but Clarke still plays her part.
“She’s great, she comes to the stables and checks in and she’s really observant at the races making sure the horse’s mannerisms are right and that she’s happy,” Oliver said.
“Then she’ll give me the thumbs and we’re ready to go.”
Oliver deliberately targeted the Rosemont Stud Fillies & Mares Pendant in preference to a number of options at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival with Megamea knowing how big it would be for Clarke to win a race on Cranbourne Cup Day.
“We probably could have taken her to Flemington, there were some suitable races there for her, but I just thought it would be nice to get her to Cranbourne,” he said.
“They put on such a good race and it’s such a good day, their Cup.
“I’m just really keen to get her back to the races and hopefully she can run well.”
With Daniel Stackhouse, who has ridden Megamea in all but two of her 12 starts for Oliver, chasing Group 1 glory in New Zealand this weekend, Jamie Mott has been engaged for the ride aboard Megamea, who will jump from barrier three in the field of 10.
