Melbourne Cup 2018: Owner Marwan Koukash to strip off if Magic Circle wins the Cup at Flemington

AUSTRALIA is braced for Marwan Koukash’s latest Magic trick.

The flamboyant owner has promised to make his clothes disappear if his Magic Circle wins the Lexus Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

He’s determined to celebrate by picking up the trophy dressed in nothing but the skimpiest of thongs.

If anyone Down Under doesn’t believe his cheeky intentions they’ve not come across Koukash.

Worried track chiefs guarded the winners’ enclosure after Magic Circle ran away with the Chester Cup in May to make sure he didn’t go through with a similar promise.

You get the feeling nothing will stop him this time.

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He grinned: “It’s going to happen – they’re not going to stop me.

“I’ve been training for the last six months – I’m now a lot more desirable looking-wise.

“I’ve lost 25kg – I actually do look good in my G-string. I look in the mirror now and I quite fancy myself.

“My wife thinks I’m not going to do it. I think she could end up divorcing me but I keep saying it’s a lot easier to find a new wife than winning the Melbourne Cup.

“It’s probably a lot easier to win three Melbourne Cups than finding one as good as my wife. If you’re listening Mandy, I’ve corrected myself.”

If Magic Circle does become the first British-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup it might have to be renamed ‘the lace that stops a nation’ after the underwear likely to be on show.

He’s Ladbrokes’ 6-1 second favourite after following his Chester Cup win by notching an equally-impressive victory in Sandown’s Henry II Stakes two weeks later.

The Gold Cup at Royal Ascot would have been the natural target but he’s been saved to give him the best possible chance of glory at Flemington on Tuesday.

Koukash added: “I think we’re going to win – I’m absolutely confident. We have the best horse, the best jockey, the best owner – we tick all the right boxes.

“He’s thriving. He looks far better than I’ve ever seen him in England – it must be the sunshine and the red wine.

“There’s only two Cups I love to win – one is the Chester Cup and the other is the Melbourne Cup.

“The Melbourne Cup festival is probably the greatest show on earth – you’d have to be a really miserable bastard not to enjoy being here.

“We could have gone to Ascot and could’ve won that race but we were trying to protect his handicap mark.”

Magic Circle’s trainer Ian Williams seems to have assumed the dubious role of Koukash’s wingman since jetting into Australia late last week.

He laughed: “Who cares what Marwan does? I just want to get my hands on that big boy - with reference to the big boy I mean the Cup.”

Aussie racing fans might think this double act is some kind of joke but Williams is deadly serious about Magic Circle’s chance.

He added: “The brief was to win the Chester Cup. We thought with a little bit of improvement he’d certainly be a Chester Cup horse.

“He went straight there and he absolutely bolted up. His performance was exceptional.

“We decided we would get him qualified for the Melbourne Cup early doors. Marwan picked a lovely race at Sandown for him, gave the jockey some wonderful instructions and the horse won very well.

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“At that point, not only did we know we had a Melbourne Cup horse, we had a horse qualified and one that could win the Melbourne Cup.

“I think this horse is a very competitive stayer. We thought he was good enough to be competitive with Stradivarius.

“He doesn’t lack for pace. He’s got a little bit of a diesel engine getting into the race so the draw in 17 is not the best but an inside draw would’ve been far worse for us.”

In Australia any reference to ‘thong’ usually means flip-flops for your feet. They’re going to get one hell of a shock if Magic Circle starts the Koukash striptease on Tuesday.