King Magnus on trial for Stradbroke Handicap

A trip to Brisbane could be on the cards for King Magnus if successful at Sandown.

The Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 15 could be a race the Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock-trained galloper is aimed at.

King Magnus is scheduled to run in the Sportsbet Feed Handicap (1400m) on Saturday, a heat of the VRC-CRV Winter Championship.

Griffiths fears that if King Magnus is successful the gelding will be weighted out of contests in Melbourne during the winter.

King Magnus is topweight with 62kg on Saturday but will carry 59kg following the claim for in-form apprentice Tatum Bull.

“If he’s successful on Saturday, there’s a chance we could take him up to Brisbane for the Stradbroke as we will probably be weighted out of options down here,” Griffiths said.

“We could stay on for the other heats of the Winter Championship, but he’s already been weighted at 62 kilos, so if he wins, he’ll be up around the 64-kilo mark.

“While you can claim in the heats, it will still be a big task for him to carry that sort of weight, while in the final there is no claims.

“He’s likely to be weighted out of the Winter Championship final if he wins a heat along the way.”

Heats for the Winter Championship continue each Saturday, with an additional heat being the Swan Hill Cup (1600m) on June 9 with the Listed VRC-CRV Winter Championship Final (1600m) carrying $200,000 in prize money to be run on July 6.

King Magnus has paid the penalty for his consistent form over a number of seasons which has seen the rising nine-year-old win the Listed Cranbourne Cup in 2021 and the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes last December.

The gelding has had two starts this campaign which have pleased the stable, including a last start fourth to Shock ‘Em Ova at Caulfield on May 11.

“We think he’s in good order after two runs back,” Griffiths said.

“He looked the winner last time in the straight, but he got down on the inside which wasn’t the best place to be.”