Former AFL premiership winning coach Denis Pagan says he finds it hard to believe he could have a Melbourne Cup runner in 2021.
Pagan last spring trained Johnny Get Angry to a win in the Victoria Derby in a story that took the racing world by storm.
Johnny Get Angry was ridden by apprentice jockey Lachie King which only added to the superb story.
'The good news story of 2020?'
This is pretty self-explanatory. Denis Pagan, Lachie King and Johnny Get Angry. pic.twitter.com/n1aHhqyN1c
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 19, 2020
Pagan told Racing.com that he finds it hard to fathom that the Derby winners preparation may include some of the springs biggest events before culminating in a Melbourne Cup run.
"Probably the Makybe Diva, maybe the Turnbull Stakes and Caulfield Cup and hopefully he gets a run in the Melbourne Cup," Pagan said.
"Not in my wildest dreams," Pagan admitted when asked if he'd expected to have horses contesting races such as the Derby and Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
"When I started this off all I really wanted was a runner at Flemington, to think I might have a horse that's a chance to get a run in the Melbourne Cup is just mind-boggling for me."
Pagan identified the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes as a starting point for Johnny Get Angry as he looks to build into the first Tuesday in November.
"He looks super at the moment, he's only been in three or four days and has been on the treadmill for a couple of days and he'll start cantering from tomorrow," Pagan said of the rising four-year-old.
"He had six or seven weeks in and I tipped him out for another four weeks, so he's had three months off this year, so he's ready to go now and this is the start of his campaign for the spring."
