Nickajack Cave set for Melbourne Cup bidPosted on Tuesday 11th August 2020 @ 13.53

Trainer Peter Moody says Nickajack Cave's priority will be the Melbourne Cup after joining his stable in Australia.

Nickajack Cave will team up with Moody later this year after switching from trainer Ger Lyons and the November showpiece race Down Under will be his main target.

Moody has never won the Melbourne Cup but has had plenty of success in Australia and oversaw record-breaking sprinter Black Caviar's unbeaten run of 25 races between 2009-13.

Nickajack Cave has been in good form this year, winning his last two outings at Leopardstown with his most recent victory coming in the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes last Thursday.

The Irish St Leger was thought to be next on the agenda but Moody says the focus will instead be on the Melbourne Cup.

"The Melbourne Cup is our sole target," he told www.racing.com.

"There was a suggestion that he would run in the Irish St Leger but we were worried that if he won that it might have given him too much weight in the Melbourne Cup, so we've decided to bypass that race.

"It's more than likely that he'll go straight into the Melbourne Cup without another run. We've got staff that will take him into quarantine, he'll stay with Ger until mid-September and then the staff will take him into quarantine in Newmarket afterwards until he travels to Melbourne where my staff will take over at Werribee."

Article Posted on Tuesday 11th August 2020 @ 13.53