King Pedro elevated as Sober sidelined
King Pedro’s (NZ) (Eminent) emergence as a Melbourne Cup smokey this spring has come at the right time for OTI Racing following confirmation their Irish-based stayer Sober is injured and won’t be making the trip to Melbourne this spring.
Rated a $26 chance for the $10 million Melbourne Cup in November, the 2025 Royal Ascot winner Sober will spend a deal of time on the sidelines after injuring a tendon for trainer Willie Mullins.
While that news is surely sobering for the ownership group, it is a different matter with King Pedro, who has recently followed a convincing Stayers Cup (2400m) win at Rosehill in June with an eye-catching victory last week in the Listed Grafton Cup (2350m).
OTI Racing director Terry Henderson had already compared the Kiwi-bred stayer to his 1995 Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus and Henderson was further buoyed by the post-race reports on the horse from his jockey, the three-time Melbourne Cup winner Kerrin McEvoy.
"He’s got versatility and good ring craft and Kerrin (McEvoy) got off and wanted to lock himself in for the spring, so that’s a promising sign," Henderson said.
"He’ll go to the (Gr.1) Metropolitan (October 4). He’s just having a couple of weeks off, but the Metrop will be his chance to take the next step and get himself into the Melbourne Cup.
"He’s an old-fashioned Kiwi stayer, a bit like Doriemus. He had a relatively easy four-year-old year and he’s ready to produce now.
"I think he’s very exciting. That race (Grafton Cup) didn’t rate all that highly compared to his win in Sydney, but he did a great job to score."’
Henderson reported the group’s G1 SA Derby winner Wigmore (NZ) (Sweynesse) won’t be tried at the elite level in the spring with races like the Melbourne Cup being considered for him in 2027.
"Unless they are exceptional, I think they struggle when they go from three to four so we’ll tread a little warily," Henderson said. "He’ll have a four-race prep leading into the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on final day (Flemington) as his spring target.
"He’s still a fine horse and he’s certainly not furnished out yet."
Henderson also confirmed the 2025 Queensland Derby winner Warmonger (NZ) (War Decree) was back in work after a long lay-off due to tendon troubles.
