Melbourne Cup 2024 favourite Circle Of Fire is set to start off his campaign with a jump-out at Cranbourne on Monday.
The Ciaron Maher-trained stayer has not been sighted since winning the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick on April 13, a week after securing the Group 2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m).
With Maher in the UK to watch Middle Earth, a horse he part-owns with Qatar Bloodstock prepared by John and Thady Gosden, perform below expectations in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said the jump-out over 800m on Monday for Circle Of Fire was an ideal starting point.
Turnbull doesn’t expect Circle Of Fire to get near his rivals on Monday, but said the stayer was coming along nicely for his tilt at the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington in November.
“Performance wise, he’s not going to get near them, but it’s just a matter of getting him going,” Turnbull said.
“He’s coming along nicely. He only had a short break after his Sydney Cup win.
“His weight is good, his skin is very good coming down from NSW and for a bull (entire) you wouldn’t know it.
“He’s very European shaped and styled and doesn’t carry a lot of weight. He’s a very talented horse, very clean-winded and has a huge aerobic capacity.”
After having a short break in NSW after his Sydney Cup success, Turnbull said Circle Of Fire had been based in Victoria over the past couple of months.
He started off at Ballarat before making his way to Turnbull at Cranbourne.
“I’ve had him at Cranbourne for probably six weeks,” Turnbull said.
“He went to Ballarat for a fortnight to enable us to alternate treadmill and track to get him moving.
“We’ve had a bit of rain at Cranbourne but by the time the jump-outs roll around it should be OK.
“It was a (heavy) eight or nine when we worked on it on Saturday morning, and we’ll get first use of it on Monday with him being in a half-mile jump-out.”