Eclectic campaign beckons for Ashrun with 2021 Melbourne Cup the ultimate target

Ashrun, who is among the early front-runners in betting on the 2021 Melbourne Cup, has returned to Germany to be prepared for another international campaign having enjoyed a successful spell in Australia this year.

One of the Australian Bloodstock horses to have departed Australia in recent weeks, Ashrun won the Group 3 Hotham Handicap at the end of October for trainer Andreas Wohler, before finishing tenth behind Joseph O’Brien-trained winner Twilight Payment in the Melbourne Cup just four days later.

Ashrun is likely to begin his campaign early in 2021 in the second running of the Longines Turf Handicap in Riyadh. The inaugural Saudi event in February featured two Melbourne Cup winners in Cross Counter and the aforementioned Twilight Payment, two Hotham Handicap winners in Prince Of Arran and Downdraft, and a dual Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner in True Self.

“Ashrun arrived back in Germany in tip-top order after a quiet couple of weeks,” said Australian Bloodstock’s Jamie Lovett. “All things being equal we will head to the two-mile race on turf in Saudi Arabia, which will be his next assignment.

“He’ll then be campaigned in Europe before we then bring him back down here for the Melbourne Cup next November.”

Ashrun is 25-1 with bet365 for the 2021 running of the ‘race that stops a nation’, with their market headed, eyecatchingly, by Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Tarnawa and this year’s Melbourne Cup runner-up Tiger Moth.

2021 Melbourne Cup

Bet365: 16 Tarnawa, Tiger Moth, 20 High Definition, 25 Ashrun, One Ruler, Prince Of Arran, Russian Camelot, Search For A Song, Sir Dragonet, Surprise Baby, The Chosen One, Thunder Moon, Trueshan, Twilight Payment, Verry Elleegant, 33 bar

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