Sir Michael Stoute's Mirage Dancer has left his yard to move to Australia in a sale to new connections who are eying up meetings for the five year old in the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups.
The horse won four of 16 races and on his last outing finished a well beaten second to the David Simcock trained Desert Encounter in the Glorious Stakes at Goodwood, which was a race he had won the year before that renewal.
After three superb years under one of the best trainers in the sport Mirage Dancer will go to the yard of training partners Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and take up residence in Australia.
(Credit www.racing.com and At The Races) Trainer Busuttin said “He’s been bought for Caulfield and Melbourne Cup berths.
“He raced in the Group Three mile-and-a-half race the other night and ran second and he seems to have the right credentials for the Cups.
“We chanced upon him with (bloodstock agent) Mark Pilkington and he’s put a group together including Seymour Bloodstock and Mark Casey to race him and obviously we are very lucky that he’s going to end up in our stable.
“We’ll get out of quarantine in time for a Caulfield Cup start and so it will be very exciting for the owners and for the stable.”
Although the Caulfield Cup looks on the agenda for the five year old, the next big race when he moves down under could be the Moonee Valley Group One Cox Plate.
This race has now become more appealing from a British and Irish stand point as the winner of the last four renewals was the wonder-mare Winx and she has now retired leaving a hefty bit of prize money up for grabs.
The trainer added: “We have been looking for a Cups horse and he is qualified for both races and would get in with a competitive weight.
“The Caulfield Cup would be an immediate goal and from there, on to a Melbourne Cup.
“It (Caulfield Cup) seems a nice race for him but we’ve also got him in the Cox Plate and I’m sure he wouldn’t be out of place in a Cox Plate if he ended up going there.”