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All-Star Mile winner still set for Group 1 mile race

All-Star Mile (1600m) winner Mugatoo (Henrythenavigator) is likely to contest the Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) on April 10 at Randwick. 

Jamie Lovett of Australian Bloodstock told Racing.com that Mugatoo might be entered for Saturday’s George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m) at Rosehill just to keep his autumn options, but it is more than likely the Kris Lees-trained six-year-old gelding will tackle the Doncaster. 

"I haven’t spoken to Kris (Lees) this morning and look, we might throw in a nomination for the Ryder but my gut feeling is that we'll stick with the plan to go to the Doncaster," Lovett said.

"The plan was always the Doncaster, but it is tempting to run in the Ryder. It’s a $1m Group 1 but it comes down to how it will impact his campaign and what we had in mind.

"If we did that (run in Ryder) we’d had to shelve the Doncaster to leave a gap between runs to a Queen Elizabeth (Stakes), but there’s nothing definitive just yet.

"If he ran in a Ryder, that would put him into the Queen Elizabeth and there is a theory that you’d be running for third behind Addeybb and Verry Elleegant."

Mugatoo is likely to run in the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), before being spelled and then readied for the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m).