The Melbourne Cup remains an option for the King’s Desert Hero after his third in the St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday.
The three-year-old finished three-and-a-quarter lengths behind winner Continuous in the Classic, having kept on well in the closing stages despite appearing outpaced with two furlongs to run.
In an interview on Nick Luck's Daily Podcast, trainer William Haggas said: "I thought he ran a very good race. If you take a formline through Chesspiece, he's improved. I think it was his best run, I think the handicapper will put him up from 110.
"I think Tom [Marquand] felt if they'd gone a stride faster it would have helped. We all thought there'd be plenty of pace but actually they didn't go very fast, I think it was pretty steady early on.
"That should probably have played to his strengths as he's a horse who won a Group race over a mile-and-a-half but Tom said while he didn't overdo it he was always wanting them to go half a stride of faster. I think he stuck on very well and was very brave."
The statistics favour Desert Hero, should he take up the engagement in the Melbourne Cup. Two northern hemisphere three-year-old colts have won the 'race that stops the nation' in the last six years - the Joseph O'Brien-trained Rekindling in 2017 and Godolphin's Cross Counter in 2018.
"We want to leave all options open so the horse will go through his veterinary tests, I think we start tonight, and then a couple of days of MRIs tomorrow and Wednesday," added Haggas.
"We'll get those completed. That doesn't mean he's definitely going but the weights come out tomorrow and then we'll collate all the information and see what happens."
Desert Hero is widely available at 12/1 for the Melbourne Cup, run at Flemington on 7 November.
