David Vandyke says Maurus has gone to a new level ahead of the Doomben Cup

MAURUS is looming as a real Doomben Cup smokie with trainer David Vandyke insisting the progressive stayer is going better than stablemate Sir John Hawkwood.

Maurus scores easily at Doomben. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

MAURUS is looming as a real Doomben Cup smokie with trainer David Vandyke insisting the progressive stayer is going better than stablemate Sir John Hawkwood.

The statement carries plenty of weight considering Sir John Hawkwood was a good thing beaten in Saturday’s Group 3 JRA Cup (2000m) at Doomben.

Vandyke has another nice staying type racing in Brisbane at present in the form of Astronomos but feels Maurus is the one with most upside.

“He is going the best (of the three) at the moment, especially for a 2000m race,” Vandyke said.

“I could have run Sir John Hawkwood, Astronomos or Maurus (in the Doomben Cup) and Maurus is the most progressive and he is showing a new level of ability in attitude, in trackwork and at his most recent start.
“I think coming back from 2200m to 2000m will be ideal and he will be strong the whole way.”

Most of the Doomben Cup runners faced off in the Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast on May 7 but Maurus comes from left field.

The $16 Doomben Cup chance won an open handicap (2200m) at Doomben on April 30 by 3 ½ lengths and Vandyke expects the five-year-old to run extremely well this weekend.

“He is making a quantum leap in class going from an open handicap to a Group 1 but he is a very tough horse and he is a last start Doomben track winner which carries some weight,” Vandyke said.

“He deserves to be double figure odds but I think he is going to run a mighty race.”

The Doomben Cup received a blow yesterday with Australian Bloodstock’s Luke Murrell confirming exciting import Raw Impulse won’t back up in the Doomben Cup after making it three-straight wins this campaign at Caulfield on Saturday.

Murrell said Raw Impulse will now either go to the Group 2 Brisbane Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on June 11 or the Listed W J McKell Cup (2400m) at Randwick on May 28.

However, the Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained Our Ivanhowe is a likely starter in the Doomben Cup with the six-year-old expected to fly from Victoria to Queensland in the next 48 hours.

Originally, the stable stated Our Ivanhowe ($10) would only run in the Doomben Cup if the track was wet but you would doubt they would fly him north and not run considering fine weather is forecast in Brisbane all week.

Doomben Cup favourite Hauraki firmed to $3.50 with UBET yesterday following news Raw Impulse won’t run in the race.

Meanwhile, Astronomos, who was scratched from Saturday’s JRA Cup, is likely to run in a Benchmark 85 (2000m) at Doomben this Saturday.

“He was leaving feed and had a poor blood count (late last week) but providing I’m happy with him (today) and he can gallop on Tuesday, he will run on Saturday,” Vandyke said.