Assistant trainer Manny Gelagotis is hoping a return to familiar surrounds will spark Mourinho back into form in the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield.
Mourinho has returned to the Moe stable of Peter Gelagotis after being prepared by Darryl Blackshaw for the first two runs of his campaign while his trainer served a suspension.
Mourinho
A first-up winner of the P B Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield last month, Mourinho finished sixth to The Cleaner in the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley on September 5.
“We felt from a stable perspective it was a confusing run, but then he finished besides Contributer and here we are saying he was disappointing,” Manny Gelagotis said.
“Maybe the first-up run took a bit more out of him than what we thought and he galloped a little bit light leading into the race.
“He also had a little bit of low-grade mucus in his throat post-race at Moonee Valley.
“When you’ve got horses that are really genuine you start to go looking for something.”
Gelagotis said Blackshaw had done a tremendous job with the gelding while his brother was on the sidelines.
He said the three weeks since his last start had been beneficial for Peter to look at the horse, noting also that Mourinho’s work had picked up as the gelding headed towards securing a Cox Plate start.
Mourinho is one of 16 horses nominated for the Underwood Stakes (1800m) on Saturday.
Among them are Group One Makybe Diva Stakes winner Fawkner, Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes winner The Cleaner, Godolphin’s Contributer and New Zealand four-year-olds Mongolian Khan and Volkstok’n’barrell.
Contributer is the early $3.60 favourite ahead of Fawkner ($4) with Rising Romance and The Cleaner at $8 and Mourinho a $14 chance.
