Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare will spend time at trainer Danny O’Brien’s coastal property while his path to a Cup defence is mapped out.
Vow And Declare won Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup and the morning after the gelding was posing for media along with his trainer at O’Brien’s Flemington stable.
O’Brien said both he and the stayer had pulled up well from Tuesday.
“We had a great celebration with family and friends last night,” O’Brien said.
“There were a lot of kids there. Everyone was very excited to have an actual Melbourne Cup to get photographed and get their hands on.
“I pulled up very well.
“Vow And Declare is super. He didn’t have a tough run as silly as it sounds. It wasn’t a very quickly run Melbourne Cup so it became more of a canter and a sprint home and he’s very happy this morning.
“He’s just a very happy horse.
“He’s very relaxed. He can do a media call like this and not raise a sweat. He’s got a great nature. And he’s had a light spring. He’s only raced three times.
“It’s not like he’s had a gruelling preparation.”
O’Brien said Vow And Declare would head down to his property at Barwon Heads later on Wednesday.
“The rest of the week I reckon he’ll go down the beach each morning and just relax down there.,” he said.
“And then (part-owner) Geoff Corrigan and I will sit down and work out what his next six months looks like.”
O’Brien indicated the four-year-old’s next run could be in the Australian Cup in the new year at Flemington.
Vow And Declare shares favouritism in the first market for next year’s 2020 Melbourne Cup at $18 with Il Paradiso and Surprise Baby who finished third and fifth respectively on Tuesday.
“Next year I’d say the mostly likely thing for him is he comes back and has another go at it,” O’Brien said.
“He’s only just turned four and he’ll be a better horse next spring. And he’ll need to be because he’ll have to carry more weight.
“But ultimately it’s a 3200 metre race that’s on just across the road from where he lives and it’s an $8 million race.
“So the most likely thing for us is that we try to see if he can win again.”
