Michael McNab to partner Nereus in Mornington Cup
New Zealand’s champion jockey, Michael McNab, is poised to make his Victorian debut this weekend when partnering the Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-trained Nereus in Saturday’s Mornington Cup (2400m).
The Kiwi sensation, Nereus, boasts an impressive record of five wins from eight career starts, including a recent triumph in the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) at Trentham. Ritchie is optimistic about the prospects of the four-year-old progeny of Savabeel (Zabeel) in this weekend’s Listed event.
“Nereus is very good. He’s not your typical New Zealand stayer, as he’s not a big-striding New Zealand stayer,” Ritchie shared with Racing.com.
“He’s nifty with a nice little turn of foot at the end of 2000 metres, so we’re chancing our arm by going to 2400 metres.
“We feel Mornington will suit him and so will Caulfield, so we are hoping to get our spot in the Caulfield Cup.”
“We’re going to have a go and see how good we are. We have to step up again on New Zealand form but he’s doing that every start.”
McNab, renowned for clinching consecutive New Zealand jockeys’ premierships in 2021-22 and 2022-23, currently ranks second in this year’s standings.