Back on The Map

Trained by Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray and bred in Tasmania, the daughter of Alpine Eagle built a reputation as a tough, talented stayer. Her Ramsden victory was the breakthrough that put her on the Melbourne Cup path. While her 2024 Cup performance under champion jockey Rachel King saw her finish back in the field in 21st place, the mare had still earned her place among the best.

After a disappointing run in the Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes earlier this year, The Map was retired and entered in the Inglis Chairman’s Broodmare Sale. But when she failed to meet her $200,000 reserve, her old trainers decided they still saw potential.

“She’s coming home, we’re going to put her back in work. Oopy and I made that decision,” Clarken told Racing.com at Morphettville on Saturday. “We gave her the opportunity to become a broodmare… she got passed in. Oopy and I both went to see her in the sales ring, and we were happy to see her really up and about.

“She really got wired up, and we thought, ‘if she was walking around like an old broodmare, we’d let her go.’

“But when we saw that, and she’s had a good spell up in the Hunter Valley with lots of green grass – when she gets back, she’s going to race like an old gelding.”

Now back in training, The Map’s trainers are optimistic that she can again rise to the occasion in Melbourne’s most competitive staying contests.

For Clarken, the journey carries personal significance. A lifelong horseman from a family steeped in racing tradition, he’s driven by the memory of his late father, who would have been “over the moon” to see The Map in Cup contention last year. “He’s not here to witness it,” Clarken said at the time, “but I’m determined to live out the dream for him.”

As Flemington prepares to host the Lexus Andrew Ramsden Stakes again this Saturday, The Map won’t be there – but her story remains a powerful reminder of the doors this race can open.