Corey Brown has won two Melbourne Cups – on Shocking in 2009 and Rekindling last year – but he hasn't been booked for a ride in the race that stops the nation as far in advance as he has been this year with Magic Circle.
It is a strange but comfortable place for Brown, who will gallop the cup second-favourite at Werribee on Wednesday.
Keeps coming: Magic Circle wins at Sandown in May, a run that convinced Corey Brown to take the ride on the Melbourne Cup second-favourite.Credit:PA
“I have never been in this position, usually I’m juggling a couple of options and hoping they get into the field,” Brown said. “Some people might have thought it was too early, but I wanted to grab the ride while I could.”
Brown was booked before nominations for Magic Circle in August after watching him put six lengths into the Chester Cup field over 3700m in May. He opened up the same margin over Melbourne Cup rival Red Verdon in the Henry II Stakes over two miles at Sandown a couple of weeks later.
“We watched him with his wins at Sandown and in the Chester Cup and we liked what we saw. My manager Paul Webster picked him out after those two runs,” Brown said. “He knows Marwan Koukash, the owner, so we got in contact very early and got it done.”
Brown had to wait until October to get a feel for Magic Circle and has been left impressed every time he has ridden the gelding.
“The best thing was the way [trainer] Ian Williams’ assistant out at Werribee described him to me,” Brown said. “He said he’s not a V8, he's a diesel and once he gets to his top speed he just keeps going.
“He seems to be able to hold this long run and just keep going and has a big finish.”
That ability is different from Brown’s two Cup winners. “Shocking felt more like a sprinter when you got him and last year, Rekindling was a young horse but a real quality stayer,” Brown said.
“I’m really glad I got on Magic Circle because I know what I’m dealing with. He is a big rangy horse, long and narrow, so completely different to my Cup winners.
“But he is just a stayer that is going to keep coming.”
Magic Circle has been near the top of betting since markets opened and his price has been trimmed from $17 to $10 without having a run in the past couple of months.
Brown is a little concerned about his 56kg handicap, given he thought he would get a lighter weight.
Punters would have been concerned if they saw the way he was dropped by Marmelo in a gallop last week but Brown gained more confidence from that run.
"I thought he looked a bit flat-footed around Werribee the other day when Hughie [Bowman] accelerated on Marmelo and got away on me," Brown said. "But through the line and after the line he is definitely as good as the other horse or better.
"He is the sort of horse that is going to love the long stretches of Flemington."
Magic Circle will have a final major gallop on Wednesday as will Godolphin raider Cross Counter, with Kerrin McEvoy making the trip down to Werribee to ride him.
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