Don Hugo winning the 2025 Miracle Mile
REIGNING Miracle Mile champion Don Hugo will be a surprise absentee from two major upcoming features and is heading for a spell.
Trainer Luke McCarthy said he felt it was best for the superstar five-year-old to skip the $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile at Menangle on September 6 and the $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton on October 18.
“He’s out. We waited a for a while to weigh things up after the Inter Dominion, but it’s best to give him a good break now,” he said.
“Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have taken him to the big NZ race after the Miracle Mile and given him a spell then because he hasn’t quite been himself since.
“But we’ve got the chance to do that now and focus on having him back to his top for early next year and maybe even Brisbane in December.”
Don Hugo, who beat Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile on March 8, won his first heat of the recent Brisbane Inter Dominion before a tiring eighth in his second heat after a torrid run. He then ran a battling fourth in the Inter Dominion final before Leap To Fame on July 19.
“I’ll just keep monitoring him while he’s out and if the timing works, we will look at the Sunshine Sprint and Blacks A Fake in December,” McCarthy said.
“What we’re really looking at is the string of Cups in Victoria, headed by the Hunter Cup, early next year and then another crack at the Miracle Mile.
“That’s why a decent break now is so important.”
McCarthy’s star mare Eye Keep Smiling will push on after stretching her winning streak to 10 races when she successfully defended her Group 1 Golden Girl crown at Albion Park on July 19.
“There’s a race for her at Menangle on August 23 and then, all going well, she’ll go against the boys in the Len Smith Mile,” he said.
“Then she’ll get her break because Jackie (Gibson, owner-breeder) is keen to take another embryo from her.”
Amazingly, Eye Keep Smiling’s first foal, a yearling colt by champion sire Bettors Delight, was born through an embryo transplant process and will be sold at the Sydney Nutrien Yearling Sales in March.
“She’ll then come back and head to Victoria early next year with Don Hugo,” McCarthy said. “She’s definitely racing on for another season.”
McCarthy’s immediate focus is also on maintaining his unbeaten record in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 6.
He won on pick-up drive Encipher in the inaugural running (2023) and trained and drove Don Hugo to win last year.
“We’re thrilled Hesitate has a slot thanks to ‘Singo’ (John Singleton). He’s had a strong winter campaign in Brisbane, so will only need a trial and one lead-up race before it,” he said.
McCarthy is weighing up whether to run exciting new stable addition Kingman in the Len Smith Mile.
“We threw him in the deep end last Saturday and he ran a great race on a wet track, which he didn’t really like,” he said. “Considering he’d only won his metro maiden race the week before, it was a terrific run.”
PHOTO: Don Hugo Miracle Mile - Club Menangle/Pacepix
