MELBOURNE - Bede Murray says it as proudly as if he was talking about success in a spring Classic.
"I've won it three times," he boasts. "Not a bad effort."
The Mollymook Cup is such a big deal to the New South Wales south coast trainer that he commemorates it with the cap he wears as he puts his Caulfield Guineas favourite, Universal Prince, through its paces.
"There's no actual racecourse at Mollymook, just a sort of unofficial race club, me and a couple of mates. The race is held at Nowra," he said.
Tomorrow Murray will saddle up a very real chance in a bigger race than the Mollymook Cup.
With a bit of luck, he'll win it - and a couple more.
Murray, who trains his team at his property at Conjola, south of Nowra, and at Kembla Grange, has brought the best horse he's ever had to Melbourne for a crack at a couple of races that would put the seal on a long and distinguished training career.
And maybe earn him a new hat.
Universal Prince has come along at a time when the depth of three-year-old talent is about as limited as it ever has been.
Apart from Zariz, which will miss the Guineas, and Unworldly who met an untimely end this week, there has hardly been a three-year-old of Classic potential, particularly among the staying ranks.
So when Universal Prince took out the first group one race for his age this season, he became a ready-made favourite for the Guineas and the Victoria Derby two weeks later.
It also gave him first call on next autumn's $A2 million AJC Australian Derby.
While favouritism for Saturday's semi-classic is welcome, Murray warned yesterday that the Derby was the horse's main aim.
"The guineas was a race I was trying to avoid," he said.
And after drawing barrier 19, he probably wishes he had succeeded.
But the dilemma for Murray came in the programming of the spring three-year-old races.
From the 2000m of the group one Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick last Monday week, Universal Prince drops back to 1600m on Saturday and will then be stepped up again to the 2050m of the AAMI Vase at Moonee Valley next week and then the 2500m of the derby.
Murray said he would have preferred to progress at similar distances, but had no choice but to run over the guineas trip.
Racing: Murray chases bigger fish
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