Count Octave has Melbourne Cup aim
The Melbourne Cup will be the season-long aim for Qatar Racing's Count Octave, it was today confirmed.
Speaking from his Kingsclere base, Count Octave's trainer Andrew Balding said he will look to get one more race into the son of Frankel before jetting off down under.
Balding said: ‚"Count Octave's likely route will be either the Lonsdale Cup or the Ebor at York. It depends on where Sheikh Fahad would like to run him, with the former being the more likely. However, long term, the aim is the Lexus Melbourne Cup.‚"
The horse is owned by Qatar Racing, made up of Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani and his brothers, and would be its first winner of the race. However, for Sheikh Fahad himself, it would represent his second winner as Dunaden, in the colours of Pearl Bloodstock, won the race in 2011. Pearl Bloodstock preceded Qatar Racing and now sits under the umbrella of the main operation.
David Redvers, racing manager for Qatar Racing, added: ‚"Sheikh Fahad has been very fortunate to already win the Melbourne Cup but I know he would love to do so again in the colours of Qatar Racing. Count Octave has some good form that ties in with some real Group 1 horses, so hopefully we can get to that stage safe and sound and then the excitement can begin. Qatar Racing has horses with trainers all over the world and we are always looking at international opportunities and the prizes don't come much bigger than the Melbourne Cup.‚"
Also present to see the trophy was Count Octave's regular partner Oisin Murphy. The Irishman is the retained rider for Qatar Racing and having notched his first British Group 1 victory aboard Roaring Lion in the Coral-Eclipse in the same colours, is looking to add Australia's biggest prize to a memorable year.
‚"It's been a tremendous few months for both myself and Qatar Racing and I'm very grateful to Sheikh Fahad for giving me the opportunity to ride in these big races. Winning the Coral-Eclipse was an amazing feeling, but I think winning the Melbourne Cup could possibly top even that. We've a long way to go, but hopefully all will be well and we can line up with a good chance on the day.‚"