Magic Circle to move to Richard Fahey’s stable

Popular racehorse owner Marwan Koukash has confirmed Magic Circle is to move to Richard Fahey’s stable, with the Melbourne Cup his big target for the season.

The eight-year-old was a hugely impressive winner of the Chester Cup in May 2018 and was sent off a 6-1 chance for Australia’s biggest race six months later. He could only finish 16th of 24 runners that day, with Cross Counter victorious, and he disappointed in two starts last season.

Koukash, the former owner of Super League club Salford City Reds, has opted to move Magic Circle out of Ian Williams’ yard and to Fahey, with the hope that a change of environment could spark improvement.

“We thought a change of scenery might do him some good so we have sent him to Richard Fahey’s,” said Koukash. “I was really looking forward to running him in the Chester Cup, but unfortunately that isn’t going to happen in May – hopefully they might be able to rearrange it for later in the season.”

“The Melbourne Cup is still part of his plans. He has tons of ability but just suffered last season from some fitness issues, which are all sorted now. He doesn’t have a lot of mileage on the clock so he should have a good season.”

Koukash is a huge supporter of Chester racecourse and is usually mob-handed for the track’s featuring May meeting. That festival, scheduled for May 5 – May 7, has already been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but he believes the sport will come back stronger.

He added: “The summer is not summer as a result of not being able to race at Chester in May. But we are well and alive, safe and well and racing will come along again and hopefully we can return to normal when it is safe to do so. The sport will come back stronger.”