Former French galloper Athabascan will be reacquainted with the Flemington racecourse in a bid to secure a start in the Melbourne Cup.
The John O’Shea and Tom Charlton-trained galloper heads to the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) on Saturday with the victor of the race earning a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington in November.
Athapascan has only raced at Flemington twice previously and has not been seen at the track in the past 18 months.
Both times the stayer was seen at Flemington he was chasing a ballot exemption into the 2023 Melbourne Cup.
At his first attempt, Athapascan finished eighth in The Bart Cummings (2500m) in October 2023 and then two starts later finished second in The Archer (2500m), three days before the Melbourne Cup that was taken out by Without A Fight.
Athapascan has not been seen in Melbourne since The Archer placing with all his racing restricted to Randwick and Rosehill.
Since arriving in Sydney in 2022 and racing straight off the plane in the following month, Athapascan has three wins to his credit, twice at 2400m, and most recently in the ATC St Leger (2600m) at Randwick last October.
Set for a tilt at the Sydney Cup in April, Athapascan finished fifth to Arapaho before being earmarked for the Andrew Ramsden and it’s ‘Golden Ticket’.
Charlton said the team had deliberately kept Athapascan on the fresh side for a tilt at Saturday’s contest but gave the stayer a gallop between races at Warwick Farm last week while he wound up his preparation with a gallop on the Kensington track at Randwick on Tuesday.
“He hasn’t done a lot since the Sydney Cup, so it was just a case of taking him to Warwick Farm for the day and giving him a hit-out,” Charlton said.
“The Sydney Cup was our aim with him and once we got through that we didn’t want to give him an extended period in the paddock, so he just had a freshen up.
“This was the most likely race with potential Melbourne Cup 2025 aspirations in the spring.”
Ben Melham, who has been taking part in the Tour d’Horse, a charity event to race money for the KIDS Foundation in the Hunter Valley, will ride Athapascan on Saturday.
