A international challenge on more than one level looms as a fitting farewell to racing for Cox Plate winner Anamoe.
Having owned the Australian spring with four Group One wins from as many outings, there is a consensus the time is right for Anamoe to take on the world.
And among the most important of Godolphin's 2023 plans for their bona fide superstar is a Dubai World Cup meeting appearance in front of his owner Sheikh Mohammed.
For all of the worldwide success enjoyed by Sheikh Mohammed over the past three decades, Anamoe stands alone as Godolphin's most successful Group One racehorse.
The entire won for the seventh time at racing's highest level with a stirring Cox Plate victory over I'm Thunderstruck and El Bodegon at Moonee Valley.
It was a moment of triumph like no other for his trainer James Cummings.
"The right horses have run second and third so it is a proper Cox Plate ... it is the best race I have been involved in," he said.
Cummings is a part of Australian racing royalty as the grandson of legendary trainer Bart Cummings but a Dubai campaign and perhaps even a Royal Ascot cameo for Anamoe promises to put him on a global stage like never before.
It's a tantalising plan that jockey James McDonald says can help add to Anamoe's reputation before the horse is retired to stud as one of the world's most valuable thoroughbreds.
"This horse, I think he will get physically even better. It's just the tip of the iceberg for him," McDonald said.
Anamoe's campaign may not be over with the $3 million Champions Stakes on the last day of the Melbourne Cup carnival a possible final spring destination.
If the four-year-old stays in training and turns up at Flemington next month, it will mark his first appearance at the headquarters of Victorian racing.
