SOUTH Australian mare The Map will try and enhance any chance of sneaking a place in the race that stops a nation in Wednesday’s $500,000 Geelong Cup (2400m).
Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray have rolled the dice with the impressive last-start Morphettville winner and make the trip to Victoria for the Group 3 feature with Ben Price booked to ride.
The Map is one of a host of horses trying to secure a weight penalty that could help secure a Melbourne Cup start.
She’s giving away 17 ratings points and will carry the same weight as current favourite First Immortal from the Mark and Levi Kavanagh stable in a race that features the likes of Spanish Mission who finished third in both the 2021 Melbourne Cup behind Verry Elleegant and 2022 Australian Cup won by Duias.
Clarken said they were looking forward to seeing just where The Map sits against the better stayers.
“Last start she won like she was ready to take that next step and the other factor is there isn’t a lot else for her in Adelaide this time of year,’’ Clarken said.
“She certainly hasn’t gone backwards, if anything that win the other day has bought her on again.
“That was what we’d kind of been waiting for from her. She was disappointing the previous start at Murray Bridge but we quickly realised that she just doesn’t like being ridden close and on the fence, she probably prefers to be out in clear air and given time to wind up,’’ he said.
The Geelong Cup is a proven form race when it comes to past Melbourne Cup success.
Media Puzzle, Americain and Dunaden all came through the feature to claim success while last year’s winner Emissary finished second in the Cup behind Gold Trip.
The stable are also hoping stablemate Thirsty Guest can continue trending in a similar direction.
The four-year-old was equally impressive winning at Morphettville on the same day as The Map and Clarken said Friday’s $107,250 Gawler Cup (1500m) looked a nice stepping stone for the untapped galloper.
“It looks the right progressive race for him,’’ Clarken said.
“He’s a nice horse, and like The Map, he hasn’t gone backwards since his win the other day,’’ he said.
