Unbelievable, brother to City Of Troy, set for Australian debut at Flemington

A horse with a truly remarkable background is slated to make his Australian debut at Flemington this Saturday when Unbelievable takes to the track for trainer Clayton Douglas.

This extensively travelled galloper is entered for the Melbourne Cup Carnival On Sale (1620m), marking a new chapter after careers in Ireland, Hong Kong, and now Australia.

Hailing from the United States, Unbelievable shares breeding with the celebrated colt City Of Troy, a victor of the Epsom Derby, Coral Eclipse Stakes, and Juddmonte International Stakes during an exceptional 2024 season.

Initially racing as Bertinelli, Unbelievable began his career with the renowned Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien, achieving a win at Dundalk on his second start, and adding another victory over 2000 metres at Newbury as a three-year-old.

Following one more race in the UK, he was sold to Hong Kong owners and transferred to trainer Frankie Lor.

After six appearances in Hong Kong, where he secured two placings, the gelding was retired from racing there and sent to Australia, initially joining the Anthony and Sam Freedman stable.

With the Freedmans facing a 28-day disqualification, Unbelievable was temporarily transferred to the care of Douglas and will race under his name on Saturday.

The Freedmans made their return to training earlier this week, with Jourama scheduled to be their first official starter under their own name at Bairnsdale on Tuesday.

Douglas is of the view that Unbelievable has shown enough promise in trials to suggest he could become a useful staying prospect.

"He started in Ireland, ended up in Hong Kong, was retired from Hong Kong and sent down here," Douglas commented.

"He's still a 'bull' and will probably benefit from the run at the mile on Saturday after a long time off, but he's quite a nice horse.

"His trials have been good and at Caulfield Heath the other day, I thought he did a good job as he was out to do a little bit, and he hit the line strongly.

"First-up at the mile, in a benchmark 84, he carries a bit of weight, and he will be somewhere off the speed, but he'll be running on and then hopefully there will be a race for him over 2000 metres second-up."

Ethan Brown, who returns to race riding in Victoria at Geelong on Friday after a successful stint in Hong Kong, will partner Unbelievable.

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