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Son of Henrythenavigator beats Russian Camelot in $5 million race

Kris Lees had been praying for rain all week in the lead up to Mugatoo’s (6 g Henrythenavigator - Elopa by Tiger Hill) All-Star Mile (1600m) bid at Moonee Valley and the six-year-old clearly thrived in the wet conditions, duly delivering his trainer a hard-fought victory in the $5 million contest on Saturday. 

Raced by Australian Bloodstock, the son of Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo) was subject to an inspired ride by Hugh Bowman, who placed the gelding on the fence stalking the leaders. As the field reached the 300 metre mark, Bowman found a gap between runners and joined dual Group 1 winner Russian Camelot (Camelot) with 100 metres left to travel, eventually coming out on top of a thrilling battle to beat the Danny O’Brien-trained entire by half a length. Behemoth (All Too Hard) ran well to finish three and a quarter lengths away in third. 

Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner Sir Dragonet (Camelot) never looked comfortable and came home in ninth, while star New Zealand mare Probabeel (Savabeel), who was sent off the favourite, did not look to handle the wet conditions and eventually finished 12th. 

The gelding gained a berth in the race via a wildcard entry having finished 11th in the public vote and Lees said he thought Russian Camelot had the measure of Mugatoo in the straight. 

"Coming to the corner I was thinking 'Just have no bad luck from here, please'," he said.

"He was getting a bit tired once he got that clear running but up the straight, I thought the other one had his measure, but he really rallied and found. It was great to see.

"It's great. It's been well received still with a restricted crowd, but the roar went up when the gates opened. It's putting its footprint on racing now. It's up and going, isn't it?

"It's right up there, great concept and great to be a part of it."

Bought for €17,000 by Herbertstown Stud at the 2015 Goffs Ireland November Foal Sale and trained by David Simcock in England for whom he won twice, the gelding is out of Group 2-winning mare Elopa (Tiger Hill), making him a half-brother to Listed winner Elik (Dalakhani). 

Elopa herself is one of five winners out of Italian Group 3 winner Evening Kiss (Kris), who also produced Group 1 winner Epalo (Lando) and Listed winners Evening Storm (Acatenango) and Evening Breeze (Surumu). 

Evening Breeze has proved herself to be a top broodmare, producing Group 2 winners Eagle Rise (Danehill) and Eye Of The Tiger (Tiger Hill), while she is also the dam of Listed-winning duo Evensong (Waky Nao) and Echoes Rock (Tiger Hill). 

Former shuttler Henrythenavigator now stands in Russia and his progeny are headed by four elite level winners, including Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (Gr 1, 8f) winner George Vancouver.