William Knight’s classy stayer Illustrious Blue, who has been in such tremendous form so far this term, has been sold for an undisclosed sum to Australian Bloodstock and is now an intended runner in the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 3, writes Elliot Slater.
The plan is for Knight to remain as trainer of the seven-year-old son of Dansili up to and including the Melbourne Cup, after which he will be transferred to the care of Sydney-based handler David Payne, who is already eyeing a Group 1 campaign for the horse who has won 10 of his 43 career starts on turf.
Illustrious Blue has been running particularly well this season, winning the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot on his first outing of the term before stepping up again to land the Group 2 Goodwood Cup at the end of July, beating Electrolyser by a length-and-a-quarter. A horse who seems to be getting better with age, Illustrious Blue could well find himself targeted at major international races in Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore with his new connections having ambitious plans for him.
Having been allotted a weight of 55kg for ‘the race that stops a nation’, there are no worries with regard to Illustrious Blue getting a run in the world’s richest two-mile handicap, for which he is offered at odds of 33/1 by betting firms in the UK, whilst Australian layers offer up to 50/1 about his chances of landing the title for Britain. With regards to the most tempting Melbourne Cup tips, he’s certainly up there with the best of them.
It appears that 75% of the shares in the Sussex-based entry have already been taken up, whilst the remainder are available to be purchased by anyone wishing to have a stake in a contender for Australia’s biggest one-day sporting occasion.
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