Mark Kavanagh is hoping his 'bad luck' with Shocking and the Australian Cup is over...He's pleased with the 2009 Melbourne Cup winner's progress for the Australian Cup but says it's a race with a Kav jinx. MK says: 'I've had the favorite for the past three Australian Cups and they've had to be scratched.' In 2008, Maldivian was withdrawn from the race with a hairline fracture to a knee and the following year the Cox Plate winner again missed out thanks to a suspensory ligament injury following h
Mark Kavanagh is hoping his 'bad luck' with Shocking and the Australian Cup is over...He's pleased with the 2009 Melbourne Cup winner's progress for the Australian Cup but says it's a race with a Kav jinx. MK says: 'I've had the favorite for the past three Australian Cups and they've had to be scratched.' In 2008, Maldivian was withdrawn from the race with a hairline fracture to a knee and the following year the Cox Plate winner again missed out thanks to a suspensory ligament injury following his first-up win in the Orr Stakes. Then came last year's ill-fortune with Shocking. Just two days before the race, he was struck down by a foot abscess and had to be scratched.
The Age reports that some betting outlets have Shocking's stablemate Whobegotyou as equal Australian Cup favorite with last year's winner Zipping, but Mark Kavanagh says Whobegotyou will not return until Feb 26 in the Grp 1 Futurity Stakes and is unlikely to tackle the Australian Cup. His autumn target is the $2 million Doncaster at Randwick on April 16. Michael Rodd, sacked as Shocking's rider, has been booked by Lloyd Williams for either Zipping or Linton, who resume in Saturday's Orr.