A horse with one of the most compelling backstories in racing is poised to make his Australian debut at Flemington this Saturday, with Unbelievable set to race for trainer Clayton Douglas.

The extensively travelled galloper is scheduled to compete in the Melbourne Cup Carnival On Sale (1620m), having embarked on a career that has spanned Ireland, Hong Kong, and now Australia.

Bred in the United States, Unbelievable is a full sibling to the champion colt City Of Troy, a winner of the Epsom Derby, Coral Eclipse Stakes, and Juddmonte International Stakes during a stellar 2024 campaign.

Initially campaigned as Bertinelli, Unbelievable commenced his racing career under the guidance of esteemed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, securing a win at Dundalk on his second start, and adding a further victory over 2000 metres at Newbury as a three-year-old.

Following one more outing in the UK, he was sold to Hong Kong interests and transferred to the care of trainer Frankie Lor.

After competing six times in Hong Kong for two placings, the gelding was retired from racing in the territory and transported to Australia, initially joining the stable of Anthony and Sam Freedman.

With the Freedmans serving a 28-day disqualification period, Unbelievable was temporarily placed under the stewardship of Douglas and will race in his name on Saturday.

The Freedmans resumed their training operations earlier this week, with Jourama slated to be their first official runner back under their own name at Bairnsdale on Tuesday.

Douglas believes Unbelievable has exhibited sufficient promise at the trials to indicate he can develop into a handy staying prospect.

“He started in Ireland, ended up in Hong Kong, was retired from Hong Kong and sent down here,” Douglas remarked.

“He’s still a ‘bull’ and will probably benefit from the run at the mile on Saturday after a long time off, but he’s quite a nice horse.

“His trials have been good and at Caulfield Heath the other day, I thought he did a good job as he was out to do a little bit, and he hit the line strongly.

“First-up at the mile, in a benchmark 84, he carries a bit of weight, and he will be somewhere off the speed, but he’ll be running on and then hopefully there will be a race for him over 2000 metres second-up.”

Ethan Brown, fresh from a successful riding stint in Hong Kong, is set to partner Unbelievable, having returned to race riding in Victoria at Geelong on Friday.

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