Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist will be set for the 2015 Sydney Autumn Carnival under the care of Broadmeadow trainer Kris Lees.
Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist returns victorious to the mounting enclosure at Flemington. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
German trainer Andreas Wohler prepared Protectionist to score a four lengths win in yesterday’s Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington but will be leaving the lightly raced German stayer in Australia.
Australian Bloodstock share the ownership of Protectionist and the syndication principals Jamie Lovett and Luke Murrell will now work a deal to finalize the five year old’s future.
“At this stage we will sit down with the ownership group, probably in the next seven days, and just work out a plan for him,” Lovett told AAP.
“There’s nothing in concrete. These horses haven’t always responded to our training so we’ve got to make sure we get it right.”
‘The Championships’ will again be offering huge prizemoney during the 2015 Sydney Autumn Carnival and a recent announcement of an increase in stakes for the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick to $1.6 million could attract the Melbourne Cup winner.
The Group 1 weight for age $4m Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick is also a likely target for the German bred stayer.
Yesterday was only Protectionist’s tenth race start and Wohler expects the new Melbourne Cup champion to continue to improve.
“I think he’s gonna [sic] improve more from four to five (years),” Wohler said.
“He hasn’t had many races yet and you probably haven’t seen the best of him yet.”
“He’s still learning and his mind handled everything over here.
“I was really surprised that he was maturing over here in that short period.
“He was so relaxed even on the race day at Caulfield first time out.
“He did it as a normal Australian horse.”
Protectionist was quick to adapt to the Australian conditions after Wohler gave him a pipe opener at Caulfield where he ran an eye catching fourth in the Group 2 $200,000 Sportingbet Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) on October 11 prior to his win at Flemington yesterday.
The Melbourne Cup victory took Protectionist’s overall prizemoney to well over the $4 million mark from his five wins from ten starts.
