An elevated temperature causing Callsign Mav to miss a lead-up race will not dent the gallopers attempt at the Australian Cup.
The former New Zealand galloper missed out on starting in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on February 26 with an elevated temperature that his trainer Danny O’Brien said was minor.
With that news, O’Brien is pushing ahead to the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Callsign Mav has only had the two starts in Australia.
He was brought across to Australia by John Bary and finished second last in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley in October before joining O’Brien.
At his only start for the new stable, Callsign Mav finished a narrow second to Earlswood in the Group 3 Carlyon Cup (1600m) at Caulfield on February 12.
While an elevated temperature would send a shiver down the spine of most trainers in the lead up to a feature race, O’Brien said Callsign Mav had recovered quickly and was back on target.
“It was a very minor elevated temp, but he’s been great since,” O’Brien said.
“He worked at Flemington last Tuesday and again on Saturday and had a gallop on Tuesday on the course proper and he’s ready to go.
“We did bloods (tests) on him which showed it was very minor, and it was just one of those things that stopped him from running.”
Jamie Mott who had the ride first-up on Callsign Mav at Caulfield, has the ride again on Saturday.
Callsign Mav is a $17 chance in latest TAB betting that has Sydney raider Think It Over the market leader at $3.50 ahead of Spanish Mission ($4.50) and Duais ($6).