Son of Pivotal looking to get back to winning ways.
After a forgettable day at the Gold Coast, the team around Avilius (Pivotal) is expecting a much brighter showing in Saturday's Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m).
The seven-year-old was knocked around early in the AD Hollindale Stakes (Gr 2, 1800m) and was always in a tricky spot after that, before running on late to finish fourth, four and a half lengths adrift of the winner Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux).
Godolphin's Nacim Dilmi says Avilius continues to please in the stable and feels he will be better suited by the 2000 metres at Doomben than he was by 1800 metres at the Gold Coast.
"We always had a query whether the Gold Coast track was going to be to his liking and everything went wrong from the start," Dilmi said.
"He got bumped at the start, Nash (Rawiller) had to go really wide around the turn.
"We've done a few things different with him this week, we've jumped him and taken him to the beach a couple of times.
"He's pretty casual, very easy to deal with, a good eater, his demeanor is very good and everything is very good about him."
Dilmi noted they would have preferred the Doomben Cup was run on a similar surface to the soft rated track at Doomben last week, but setting that aside, Avilius is showing he's ready to return to the excellent form he showed in three Sydney runs this autumn.
Meanwhile, top-class import Mugatoo (Henrythenavigator) has settled into his Gold Coast base well this week, with connections believing the 35 days between runs and a soft draw are the keys to his Doomben Cup winning chances.
Mugatoo last raced when sixth in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Randwick in April and on that occasion, he was backing up just seven days after his fourth in the Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
Cameren Swan, who has travelled the horse right down the eastern seaboard of Australia for trainer Kris Lees this season, says Mugatoo has freshened up nicely since that run.
"He's not really a back-up horse. Kris likes to space his runs. He got beat less than two lengths by Addeybb and that's very good form," Swan said.
After the Queen Elizabeth, Mugatoo spent a short time out of the stable just to freshen up and has had a recent trial to "get him up to the mark.
"He hasn't missed a beat up here," Swan said after Mugatoo landed at Mel Eggleston's Gold Coast stables early in the week.
"I think he can go better than what he did in the Doncaster," noting Mugatoo meets Doomben Cup favourite Zaaki on better terms for having beaten him home in that race.
"He had a light gallop on Tuesday. We're really happy with how he's come through it."
