Wylie Win Can Open Doors For Magnus
Story By Ben Day
Friday, 11 August 2006:  | | Magnus wins at Rosehill |
Magnus, who resumes tomorrow, has raced three times for two wins, including a debut victory over the speedy California Dane in October and a narrow defeat in March at the hands of Tesbury Jack.
“We were a little disappointed after his last start second” Moody said, “but the horse that got him that day came out and won in Listed company at his next go, so looking back, our frustration was a little premature”.
A son of Flying Spur, Magnus returns without a trial but Moody is confident the entire will be fit enough when he lines up on Saturday.
“He’s had two jumpouts and worked to the line nicely on both occasions” the trainer confirmed.
A horse that took time to develop, Magnus has always shown promise in training and with his good fresh record, Moody felt Saturday’s feature assignment would be the ideal stepping stone into what he hopes, is an illustrious spring.
“We were concerned he may miss the race because of his prizemoney so we had him nominated for a 1200 metre class 3 event the same day.
“As it turns out, the 1100 first-up is ideal” Moody said.
That being said, the Caulfield trainer is still cautious his lightly raced charge will not have it all his own way come start time, and although this year’s Wylie field does not appear as threatening as it has in the past, this is certainly the toughest line up Magnus has faced.
“He’s up against the older horses for the first time. You’ve got this year’s Goodwood favourite in Royal Ida and smart runners like Oahu and Plans. It won’t be easy, but we’ll be able to gauge where he’s at”.
“He’s four now and fully matured so I expect him to be up to the task” Moody added.
As was the case last preparation, Moody will wait for the horse to indicate where he should be placed next, rather than map out a defined campaign this early in the new season.
“I’ll take it one run at a time. He’s still only a class 2 horse, and an entire, so I don’t want to tax him. If he doesn’t measure up in this company, we’ll look at finding some easier races at home to build his prizemoney with an eye to the autumn”.
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