Highly-regarded import Our Ivanhowe has been scratched from the Makybe Diva Stakes but impressed by winning a Cranbourne barrier trial on Friday.
Anthony and Lee Freedman accepted with the stallion for the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday as a back-up option after Our Ivanhowe’s scheduled trial was washed out on Wednesday.
With the Cranbourne club rescheduling the trials to Friday, the Freedmans reverted to plan-A for Our Ivanhowe, who will now make his spring return in the Naturalism Stakes on Saturday week.
Our Ivanhowe scored an emphatic trial win over 1550 metres, sitting close to the pace before surging away under jockey Ben Melham to score by six lengths over Ethiopia with Genuine Lad third.Our Ivanhowe is a two-time Group 1 winner in his native Germany and ran sixth to Epiphaneia in last year’s Japan Cup.
Our Ivanhowe has had one Australian start, running seventh in the RA Lee Stakes (1600m) at Morphetville in May.
Our Ivanhowe is a $26 chance for the Melbourne Cup and $41 for the Caulfield Cup in TAB fixed odds markets.
