Trainer Mick Price believes that Pakal has a great opportunity to record his maiden Group 1 win in the 2013 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Pakal will crush the 2013 Melbourne Cup hopes of Jet Away if he can win the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington tomorrow. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Pakal has raced consistently throughout the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival; winning the Legacy 2013 Badge Appeal Handicap (1600m), finishing third in the Listed Slickpix Stakes (1700m) and fourth in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) before returning to the winners circle with a very impressive win in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (2025m).

Price told Sky Racing HQ that he has been delighted with Pakal since he joined his stable at the start of the year and believes the imported stayer has every chance to record the biggest win in his racing career against a relatively weak Mackinnon Stakes field.

“He is flying and going great,” Price said.

“He is just a horse that has slotted into the stable routine really well and is really bloomy in the coat.

“We have just made decisions this preparation based on how he is going and how he races.

“I thought with the 60 kilos on the Cranbourne Cup he did a good job.

“It is a funny race, I don’t think that it is the strongest Group 1 weight-for-age that you will ever see, and it is a good opportunity to have him in.

“I think that Bossy’s horse (Jet Away) will be hard to beat but it is a good opportunity for the prize money.”

Jet Away needs to win the Mackinnon Stakes to earn a start in the Melbourne Cup field, while Lloyd Williams-owned Mourayan is also set to push forward to the ‘race that stops a nation’ at Flemington next Tuesday.

Mourayan was expected to go straight into the Melbourne Cup without another lead-up run but the Macedon Lodge team changed their minds when they saw the weak nominations and have announced that the tough stayer would take up the running, which Price believes is perfect for the chances of Pakal in the Group 1 event.

“All we ask is that we have every chance and that will suit Pakal right down to the ground,” Price said.

“He has drawn a good gate and Hughie Bowman has good instincts in a race and will ride this horse to suit.

“I think that he will be an easy enough ride.

“The horse is going well and I think that you will see the best of him; whether he is good enough, that is the question.”