Soushi's 2025 Melbourne Cup campaign kicks off at The Valley
Melbourne Cup contender Okita Soushi resumes his campaign at Moonee Valley this weekend as Ciaron Maher’s team looks to build on his third placing in last year’s Cup.
The Irish-bred entire has had just one outing since that run, over 2000m at Flemington in January, and is scheduled to compete in the Ascend Sales Trophies Handicap (1523m) on Saturday. His program is designed to see him peak for the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and the Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Maher’s National Assistant Trainer, Jack Turnbull, said the race is about building fitness. “Because of his program and where we want to get to, being the Melbourne Cup, this is a nice starting point,” he said. “He’s only had the one public jump-out, so naturally there will be good improvement.”
Okita Soushi was sidelined during the autumn after tweaking a suspensory branch, an issue Turnbull said was minor but required time. “He’s a big lad and we didn’t want to rush him back. He doesn’t like wet tracks, so missing the autumn was an easier decision, although we would have liked to be there for the Sydney Cup.”
He is set to follow Saturday’s run with the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m), the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m), and then on to the Cups.
New stablemate Go Daddy, also from Ireland, will debut in the same Valley race but is expected to find the 1523m trip short of his best. “He’ll likely settle back and run on,” Turnbull said. “We’ll try and build him up through the handicap system.”
The Maher yard also has Detonator Jack in Saturday’s field, while Running By is expected to travel to Adelaide for the Listed Leon Macdonald Stakes (1400m) at Morphettville Parks.
Punters can back Okita Soushi as he begins his road to the Melbourne Cup through Australia’s top betting sites.
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