Melbourne Cup third-place finisher Middle Earth is set to begin his preparation for another attempt at Australia’s premier staying contest at Caulfield.
The Listed Anniversary Vase over 1600m this Saturday marks the initial outing for the ex-UK runner, now under the guidance of Ciaron Maher.
Following this, Middle Earth is slated to head to Brisbane through Sydney, with the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) and Group 2 Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm listed as potential winter objectives.
The gelding is then anticipated to enjoy a brief spell amid Queensland’s winter heat ahead of the spring carnival.
Middle Earth quickly made his presence felt in Australia by taking out the Australian Cup Prelude (2000m) back in March of the previous year, though he struggled thereafter until securing third in the JRA Cup (2040m) at Moonee Valley, his last preparatory effort before placing third to Half Yours in the Melbourne Cup.
Saturday’s assignment sees the gelding arrive with a pair of straightforward jump-outs completed, the most recent one occurring last Monday.
Jack Turnbull, who serves as National Assistant Trainer for Ciaron Maher’s operation, explained the purpose of that latest jump-out was to remove some of the edge from Middle Earth.
“He trialled Monday and he’s back five days later,” Turnbull said.
“He’s a high energy horse and he’s been at Julien Welsh’s because of his barrier antics.
“He gets quite hot and claustrophobic, so he trialled Monday to run Saturday on purpose to try and knock the edge off him.
“He’s then headed up to Sydney and on to Brisbane for the Doomben Cup, the Q22 and races like that and have a prep aimed at the Cup again.”
Middle Earth shoulders 61kg on Saturday, matching the impost that Pride Of Jenni shouldered en route to success in the race last year.
Maher will also have stayers Land Legend and Sayedaty Sadaty engaged in the Saturday feature.
Land Legend makes his second appearance for Maher after previously racing under Chris Waller, while Sayedaty Sadaty returns from a third-place effort in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington, which followed his triumph in the Bendigo Cup (2400m) last time out.
Explore the Australian betting sites for top odds in the Anniversary Vase at Caulfield.
