Trainer Annabel Neasham is full of excitement ahead of Mo’unga’s resuming run in the Gr.1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday.
The four-year-old entire will meet a star-studded line-up and Neasham is looking forward to seeing how he handles his first-up assignment.
“I am really excited – it is the first Group One of the season,” Neasham told RSN927.
“He has drawn a bit of an awkward alley (12) but he looks fantastic and it will be good to kick-off his spring campaign.
“Hopefully he doesn’t have to go right back to last and can settle a little bit closer, but there is always going to be a risk of being wide. I certainly don’t want him to have a gut buster in his first assignment.
“There are a lot of 2400m horses resuming and I think he is a horse that is going to be competitive over a mile. He ran very well first-up over 1400m last prep.”
Neasham has been pleased with the way Mo’unga has been working in the lead-up to Saturday and was buoyed by comments made by jockey Tommy Berry following track work last week.
“He did a nice piece of work at Randwick last week, which is the only time Tommy (Berry, jockey) has been able to sit on him this prep,” Neasham said.
“Tommy said he felt like he had strengthened up a bit, which is no surprise with him being a four-year-old now.”
With all in the field but Kolding stepping out for the first time this season on Saturday, Neasham expects to get a good gauge on where Mo’unga sits against some of his potential spring opponents.
“She (Verry Elleegant) is a very good mare obviously and it is a very good field,” Neasham said.
“It is an interesting field with horses heading towards the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m), which will hopefully include our horse, and also horses heading towards the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m), as well as sharper horses.
“The dynamic of the race is quite interesting. I am really looking forward to learning about our fella this prep.
“He is a Group One winner over 2000m (Rosehill Guineas) and is arguably unlucky not to be a Group One winner over a mile (Randwick Guineas), and he is a stakes winner over 1500m (Dulcify Stakes) as well.
“I see no reason why he can’t run extremely well over 1400m, but I think it will be a little bit short of his best.”
Neasham is eyeing two major targets with Mo’unga this spring, the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 23 or the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill a week later, and Neasham said his performance on Saturday will dictate his trajectory.
“His first couple of runs will dictate what path we go down,” she said. “At this stage I am keeping an open mind as to whether he is on a Cox Plate path or a Golden Eagle Path, so tomorrow will be interesting.
“I have thought about the Makybe Diva (Gr.1, 1600m) for him. I think he likes Flemington. He has only had the one start there but I thought he went really well when Jamie Kah rode him first-up last prep.
“He is a horse that likes a big, long straight, so that is certainly at the back of my mind as a second-up starting point.
“We will just see how he goes tomorrow and get that out of the way before making any rock-hard plans.”
Mo’unga sports the colours of Aquis Farm, who purchased the colt for $325,000 out of the Waikato Stud draft from Book 1 at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales.
