EMERALD KINGDOM LOOKING FOR BACK-TO-BACK FEATURE RACE WINS IN THE MAGIC MILLIONS CUP

By Graham Potter | Friday, January 13, 2023

The white silks adorned with multi-coloured chickens ... yes, believe it ... that’s the colours that the connections of Emerald Kingdom hope will be carried to victory by their eight-year-old, still highly competitive gelding in the $1 million Magic Millions Cup at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The son of Bryannbo’s Gift has had eight runs since transferring to the Desleigh Forster stable, winning three times.

Two of those wins came in Emerald Kingdom’s last three starts ... in the Listed Tatts Recognition Stakes over 1350m (which, significantly, was held at the Gold Coast this season ... the Magic Millions venue) and in The Buffering (over the same distance at Doomben).

Jim Byrne, who was in the saddle in the Tatts Recognition win ... but not in The Buffering success, will resume his association with Emerald Kingdom on Saturday.

“Getting off him for The Buffering ... that I’ll have to go down to jockey error,” said Byrne.

“I knew he was going to take a big drop in the weights. It was just a bad call on my part. I’ve just got to own it ... and I do.

“That aside, it was great to see him win for Desleigh (Forster),” continued Byrne, who is great friends with the trainer with whom he has also enjoyed a highly successful professional relationship with the duo having shared in so many winners together.

“That was a dominant win and I’m very happy to be back on him.

“I think Brodie (Loy), who rode Emerald Kingdom in The Buffering, was committed elsewhere. (Loy will, in fact, ride the Annabel Neasham trained Holyfield in the same race on Saturday, the horse that finished a very close-up second to Emerald Kingdom in the Tatts Recognition).

“Racing at the Gold Coast last week appeared to be very leader biased. You only have to look at the sectionals that they would have had to run to reel in the leaders. Some of them were running sensational times. That was low level flying.

“A leader bias track will suit me, but I daresay, it won’t be quite as similar on Saturday ... I mean I don’t think it will be quite as obvious as it was on Saturday gone.

“Emerald kingdom is the type of horse that can lay down the law to the others. He can carry weight ... and he can test his rivals by making them carry their weight.

“It is so great that Emerald Kingdom is putting his best foot forward at this time ... following the career ending injury suffered by Desleigh’s stable star Apache Chase (last season’s Queensland horse Of The year).

“He was such a good horse for the camp. He basically took us all around Queensland. He took us to feature races down south ... and we were all devastated when it happened.

"Emerald Kingdom was already in the stable when it happened ... he had already won the Tatts Recognition ... and I’m just so pleased he has gone on with it ... is stepping up ...and that Desleigh has a horse that’s going to be competing in these sort of races again.

Emerald kingdom is currently on the second line of betting for the Magic Millions Cup at $5.50 behind the Chris Waller trained race favourite Oscar Zulu who tops the betting boards at $4.20.

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