Absurde is likely to line up in the Melbourne Cup alongside stablemate and ruling favourite Vauban after the son of Fastnet Rock earned a golden ticket with his win in the £500,000 Ebor Hcp at York, to the delight of fans of Frankie Dettori.
There was no semblance of a fluke either as the Willie Mullins-trained 5yo gelding was hung out on a limb three deep the trip.
Absurde seemed aware of the situation as he dug deep to repel the challenge of the favourite Sweet William (See The Stars) by a half-length with the same distance back to the game topweight Live Your Dream (Iffraaj) in third.
The signs were not so good earlier when Absurde was none to keen to go to the start. Dettori was forced to dismount and lead him for the best part of 600m.
“Credit to him, he showed some guts and stuck his neck out for the last bit because I thought I was beat,” Dettori told ITV Racing.
“He’s a horse that needs cover, and I found myself in front three out so I thought, well I’ve messed that up!
“It's unbelievable to win on my last ride. I thought coming here today to win on Kinross would be great, but I didn’t expect this one. It’s double sweet.
“I said to Willie 'listen I’m going Down Under for my last rides so please consider me' and he said he will, but only time will tell.”
Mullins said he will attempt to convince the owners to head to Melbourne for the first Tuesday in November.
“I’ll have a word Margaret and Andrew Heffernan who own the horse, they’re away with family today and couldn’t be here. But I’ll speak to them and see if they’re interested in going down to Australia and I’m sure they’d love to.
“I think the horse will pass the tests to be able to run in it no problem – unless they do a brain scan after his antics going to the start! He’s a good sound horse and we’d look forward to going to Melbourne.
“But today is about Frankie, a remarkable jockey and I thought he was brilliant on Absurde.”
“Frankie has shown us what he can do. I thought he was beaten half a furlong out, I don’t know where Frankie got his energy from in the last 100 yards.
“He pulled that one out of the fire I thought, he was brilliant on him."
Soundly beaten Vauban at Ascot on June 20, Absurde prepped for the Ebor with a sixth in a Novice Hurdle at Galway on August 1.
Absurde was a €260,000 purchase for Pb Bloodstock / H. Kirk / WP Mullins, from the Wertheimer & Frère consignment at the 2022 Arqana Summer Sale after proving a consistent performer for Carlos Laffon-Parias.
Soundly beaten Vauban at Ascot on June 20, Absurde prepped for the Ebor with a sixth in a Novice Hurdle at Galway on August 1.
It was a big Saturday for Trilogy Racing, celebrating success with Libertad in the San Domenico Stakes and owning Absurde’s stakes-placed half-sister Impertinente (IRE) (Redoute’s Choice), a $160,000 purchase at the 2022 Great Southern Broodmare Sale.
