Tiger Legend heads to Sunshine Coast Cup via Mackay and Cooktown after returning to Queensland from Hong Kong

Tiger Legend has covered more kilometres in a year than what most horses would do in a lifetime as he looks to bounce back to his former glory in the Sunshine Coast Cup.

Tiger Legend is a Group 3 winner in Brisbane under his old name Tiger Legend. Picture: Grant Peters — Trackside Photography.

Tiger Legend could make a case to be the most travelled horse racing in Australia on Saturday.

In the space of 18 career starts, the gelding has travelled from Brisbane to Sydney and on to Hong Kong for big-time owner Bon Ho.

However, after just two starts at Sha Tin, Tiger Legend returned to Australia where he was purchased by renowned bush trainer John Manzelmann, based in Mackay.

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Since then, he has covered the length of Queensland, going to Gladstone in October last year before making the trip to the Far North at Cooktown, where he was beaten at non-TAB level, then travelling south to Rockhampton and Toowoomba and back to Rockhampton, where he reeled off two consecutive wins.

Manzelmann has Tiger Legend back on the truck, making the journey from Mackay to southeast Queensland again, where he will compete in the $160,000 Sunshine Coast Cup.

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A Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate winner for Tony Gollan in 2022, Manzelmann is looking to get Tiger Legend (formerly Tiger Heart) back to his former glory and said the huge journey hasn’t dented his belief in the horse.

“He has done a couple of miles,” Manzelmann laughed.

“He was on one of the online auctions, he was $35,000.

“He has been easy to deal with, he has won a couple of races and is in front now.

“The draw (barrier one) won’t be hurting him on Saturday that’s for sure.”

“He has won a Group 3, so he used to be up to this level, whether he still is, that remains to be seen but he is going well at the moment.”

John Manzelmann has covered more kilometres than most in his career. Picture: Vilimone Baleilevuka

While being well beaten at Cooktown, 2000km away from Caloundra, is hardly ideal form for the Listed Sunshine Coast Cup, Manzelmann said there was a simple explanation for the defeat.

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“It was too short for him at Cooktown and the little tight track wasn’t any good for him, those horses that handle those tight tracks seem to scamper around there very quickly,” he said.

“He is on the back with me now, he came to Rockhampton on Thursday and then Sunshine Coast on Friday.

A huge traveller himself, Manzelmann has clocked up the kilometres and says the trip to the Sunshine Coast is light work to what he has done in the past.

“There’s been a fair few, we did Cooktown to Mt Isa to Gold Coast, Toowoomba, we have been to a fair few places.

“It’s nice when we can bring a horse that is competitive to town.”

Tiger Legend is rated a $34 chance in the Sunshine Coast Cup on Saturday.

Originally published as Tiger Legend heads to Sunshine Coast Cup via Mackay and Cooktown after returning to Queensland from Hong Kong