Unicorn may get Cup tilt
A CRACK at the Ipswich Cup could await Divine Unicorn next month but Murwilllumbah trainer Matt Dunn says taking out a major race in his next preparation is more likely for the improving four-year-old.
Gold Coast jockey Jeff Lloyd rode the gelding to victory in the Class 6 Plate (1400m) at Aquis Park on Saturday in the first run of his third preparation.
Dunn said Divine Unicorn was looking for more ground and the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) on June 16 was an option but it might be a preparation too soon.
“The way he is going and the progressions he has shown from preparation to preparation, he could end up winning a decent race for us,” Dunn said.
“Maybe not this time in, maybe next preparation.
“We have got to take it as it comes. We are probably more so looking at fringe races this prep.
“I have ambitions of maybe taking him to possibly something like the Ipswich Cup if he can run that trip by then. He probably can’t but that would be his goal.”
Dunn said the Coast win showed the horse was starting to cash in on his potential.
“It is encouraging moving forward in to the carnival because he has shown potential right the way through,” he said. “To turn up and do that was good.
“He looked beaten but still won so it’s encouraging, particularly when he gets up to his right distance. He is going to improve when he gets to 1600m and beyond.”
Dunn took Divine Unicorn to Rosehill at his previous start in December, when he ran fourth in a 1400m Highway Handicap, as part of his education.
“He gets himself too wound up at the races. The trip was designed to help with that and I think it did,” he said.