Photo:

Gary Johnson / Eclipse Sportswire

The Grey Wizard might be headed to Australia this fall as the first U.S.-based horse to run in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup, also known as the race that stops a nation.

But much depends on how he does Wednesday in the Nashville Gold Cup, a 2 1/16-mile race at Kentucky Downs where he is the 7-5 favorite on the morning line.

The Grey Wizard, a 5-year-old gelded son of Caravaggio, earned an invitation to the US$5.3 million Melbourne Cup with his win in the Belmont Gold Cup (G2) at Saratoga in June. Last out, he won the listed Cape Henelopen at Delaware Park for his second win in four starts this year.

It’s all part of a progression, said trainer Graham Motion.

“We kind of used (the Henelopen) the same way, as a prep race to get him to the race tomorrow at Kentucky Downs,” Motion told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday. “It’s the same kind of schedule we had for him to get into the Belmont Gold Cup.”

Regarding the decision to nominate The Grey Wizard for the 2-mile Melbourne Cup, Motion said, “obviously we’ve had to start looking into it, because things are going to happen quite quickly now if we decide to do it. But it’s really going to come down to how he runs tomorrow.”

The Melbourne Cup will be run at 11 p.m. EDT on Monday, Nov. 4.