South Australian trainers Dan Clarken and Oopy Macgillivray got the tick of approval from Jamie Kah that The Map was back on track for her tilt at the Melbourne Cup.
Kah, currently suspended, headed to Murray Bridge during the week to ride The Map ahead of the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Map had been scheduled to run in The Bart Cummings (2500m) at Flemington last week, but mucus appeared in the mare’s nose after a gallop and that race was aborted.
“The way she worked during the week and the way she pulled-up was great and Jamie rode her, and she was all smiles,” Clarken said.
“Where her fitness levels are at now, and where she seems to be right at the moment, we couldn’t be happier.”
Kah is booked to ride the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Point King in the Melbourne Cup having won The Archer, a ballot free race for The Cup, on the stayer last month.
Clarken asked Kah after the Murray Bridge gallop whether she would like to change her mind.
“She gave me a good smile and said, ‘that’s the way things are’,” Clarken said.
“At the end of the day, we’re all still a month out, so a lot can change.”
Kah won the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2500m) at Morphettville in May with Damian Lane having the ride when The Map won a ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup in taking out the Andrew Ramsden Stakes at Flemington.
Luke Currie takes the ride on Saturday and the expectation is Kah will ride The Map in the Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 23.
Clarken said while The Map was well-beaten in the MRC Foundation Cup (2000m) at Caulfield on September 21, he was happy with how the mare finished the race off.
He said the Caulfield lay-out was possibly not her preferred track, but if she’s hitting the line again on Saturday, he will be happy.
“She doesn’t have to be busting her boiler on Saturday,” Clarken said.
“We want her to be finding the line which she did last start at Caulfield, although it didn’t appear that way, but if you look at the sectionals, she was very good late and as good as the first three placegetters.
“I would say Caulfield is probably not her track, but I would imagine she will be finding the line, doing what she needs to do, and we’ll be happy.”
