‘We’re going with a stronger preparation this year’
Connections back Mullins-trained pair Vauban and Absurde to claim Melbourne Cup glory
Willie Mullins and his battalions will be back in Melbourne during November as the training maestro once again tries to get his hands on the coveted Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) with a two-strong challenge made up of the returning pair Vauban (Galiway) and Absurde (Fastnet Rock).
The former was sent off the 9-2 favourite to grab victory in last year’s running of the race but could only manage 14th of the 23 runners, while his stablemate fared much better, travelling well to lead with 400 metres left to race before weakening into a respectable seventh place.
Since those efforts, both horses have gone on to stakes success, beginning with Vauban securing Group 2 glory in last month’s Lonsdale Cup (Gr 2, 2m 1/2f) at York.
Having travelled strongly into the lead over a furlong from home in the nine-runner field, the son of Galiway (Galileo) then seemed to idle in front before eventually holding on from the fast-finishing Al Nayyir (Dubawi) by a neck, having looked certain to win by much further.
“He’s been fine since the Lonsdale, there’s not a bother on him,” Mullins’ assistant trainer David Casey told ANZ Bloodstock News. “He came back well, had some pre-tests for Australia during the week and so far so good with those.
“He is entered in the Irish St Leger so we will make a decision on whether he heads there before going out in the next ten days or so. We were delighted he won, and hopefully he can build on it.”
Vauban had returned in good form this season, running a gallant second behind subsequent Princess Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 4f) winner Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman) in the Yorkshire Cup (Gr 2, 1m 6f), seemingly failing to stay when fourth in the Ascot Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2m 4f), before then not having the race run to suit when a well-beaten third in the Curragh Cup (Gr 2, 1m 6f).
“His first couple of runs had been pretty good, his first-up run was solid behind Giavellotto and then he ran a cracker in the Gold Cup at Ascot where he just looked like he didn’t stay the trip,” Casey said.
“He was a tad disappointing at the Curragh, but I think the race was a funny one. Ballydoyle ended up sending one out in front and I think Vauban sort of ended up as the guinea pig that dragged everything else into the race. He was the one chasing the pacemaker and it just told in the last furlong.
“York was a different prospect of a race and he put up a good performance.”
Casey, who will again accompany the horses in their journey over to Australia, feels Vauban is at home over the 3200-metre distance and that the trip is not a concern to the yard.
“Having ridden him plenty at home I would say he would be a fairly idle horse in front,” he said.
“We generally wouldn’t send him in front at home. I would say he was idling that day, and William [Buick, rider] seemed to think the same. We’re happy enough that he’ll get the trip.”
Having gone over to Australia on the first shipment last year, Casey revealed that Vauban will instead be heading over on the second, later shipment, this time around.
“Last year’s defeat was probably a combination of stuff. We probably got the tactics wrong with him that day riding him prominent, it seemed that everything was sort of coming from the back,” he admitted.
“He also hadn’t run for ages because it was a different campaign last year, our main target was to just get him qualified for the Melbourne Cup and then get him to the race.
“We don’t have to worry about that this year so he’s able to have his runs building up to Melbourne. Last year we just got him qualified and wanted to get him there, you learn as you go along don’t you.
“He’s going to go down on the second shipment this year instead of the first like last year. That was always the thinking, to give him more runs here and send him later rather than not have a run and send him down earlier.
“We were trying to build the fitness into him down there last year, whereas this time he’s going to have run more on the track, so at the moment the Irish St Leger is the plan. Hopefully, we’re going with a stronger preparation this year.”
Meanwhile, Absurde ran out a ready winner of last Saturday’s Chester Stakes (Listed, 1m 6.5f), having also travelled strongly to lead with over a furlong to run before asserting inside the closing stages to defeat Caius Chorister (Golden Horn) by one and a quarter lengths.
“Absurde won well the other day at Chester. He’d had a break since winning at the Cheltenham Festival with the thinking of coming back to the flat and heading back down to Melbourne.
“I’d say he needed the run pretty badly when fourth at the Curragh, and we just felt he needed another run before going to Melbourne and the Chester race suited.”
Casey revealed the plan with Absurde is to take in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on October 19.
“At the moment the plan is for him to go early on the first shipment to Melbourne and maybe have a crack at the Caulfield Cup.
“We just think that the mile and a half trip could suit him nicely, and then he’ll go onto the Melbourne Cup after that. He was also ridden fairly prominently in last year’s race, so that wouldn’t have been in his favour.”
Absurde is a horse that is made for Australian racing. Bred by Wertheimer & Frere, he is by Coolmore’s recently pensioned stallion Fastnet Rock (Danehill) and is out of the stakes-placed scoring Singspiel (In The Wings) mare Incroyable, making him a half-brother to Impertinente, a Group-placed son of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill).
Asked about whether he feels Absurde stays the 3200-metre distance, Casey responded: “He was always handy when winning the Ebor over a mile and six furlongs and he kept galloping up the long straight at York.
“I do think the shorter trip will not be a bother to him either though, but I do think we just rode both horses too prominently last year. It’s easy to be wise about that after the event, but that’s life!”
Vauban, who was ridden by Ryan Moore in last year’s contest, is a best-priced 10-1 favourite to land the Melbourne Cup, while Absurde, who was partnered by Hong Kong’s champion rider Zac Purton, can be backed at double those odds, sitting at 20-1, and Casey said no arrangements on jockey’s had been made as of yet.
“It’s not something we’ve looked at yet to be honest,” Casey said. “Ryan rode Vauban last year and William has ridden him to success this year, so it will depend on how both lads are fixed for the race.
“They both ride for us quite a bit in England so I’d imagine if one of those two wanted the ride, they’d be top of the list for it. Zac Purton rode Absurde last year so I guess we will see what the weights say tomorrow, and work it out from there.”
Casey will be making his seventh trip over to Australia for the Melbourne Cup, and is relishing the chance of finally getting his hands on the trophy, having previously gone close with the likes of dual placegetter Max Dynamite (Great Journey).
“I’m looking forward to it, it is a super race to be a part of and it’s great to get down there and be involved with it, Casey said.
“I think this year will be my seventh time going, which is great. We’ve had a couple of winners down there, True Self won twice but got balloted out of the Melbourne Cup both years having been number 25!
“He went and won the Queen Elizabeth twice though, so we’ve had some success, but obviously not in the big race.
“We’ve gone close before with a second, third, fourth, and sixth placing, but it’d be fantastic if we could go and win it.”
The Mullins pair are set to form part of a formidable Irish challenge on the Melbourne Cup, with the hugely progressive Crystal Black (Teofilo) confirmed to be making the trip, and recent Ebor Handicap (1m 6f) victress Magical Zoe (Shantou) also in the mix.
Trained by County Meath-based Gerard Keane, Crystal Black has been one of the stories of the season back home, starting his winning spree off a handicap mark of 77 before making it six wins from his last seven outings with a five-length romp in the Ballyroan Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 4f).
Magical Zoe has come a different route, switching from the jumps to the flat and comfortably justifying 11-2 favouritism to land last month’s Ebor, a race Absurde won in 2023 before his Melbourne Cup run, by two and three-quarter lengths.