Connections are weighing up their options with leading Victoria Derby contender Forgot You (NZ) (Savabeel) and contemplating a start in next Saturday’s $5 million Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m).
The lure of 49.5kg, a potential stud deal and the stable’s first runner in Australasia’s weight-for-age classic is weighing on the minds of trainers Natalie Young and Trent Busuttin, after the Savabeel colt closed strongly in the Gr. 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m).
“The Group One Derby is there regardless which way we go,” co-trainer Natalie Young admitted.
“But if he was to win a Cox Plate… nobody really wants to stand a Derby winner.
“We’re thinking about it and in discussions with the owners.
“We can go to the Vase and go close to winning that or take the big weight drop.
“The sensible thing to do would be go to the Vase but it’s not every day you get a horse to run in a Cox Plate.
“Zaaki got beat the other day, so I really think that opens it back up.”
Connections Ozzie Kheir, John O’Neill and co. won the Cox Plate last year with Sir Dragonet (Camelot) and they would require a jockey for their three-year-old hopeful.
“Daniel Moor can’t do 49.5 kilograms so we would have to change pilot and that’s what we’re thinking about at the moment,” Young said.
Photo Credit: Bruno Cannatelli
“The 49.5 is so enticing and he’s two from two at The Valley so it’s swingable.
“I think he’s a proper horse.
“He has come through the run brilliant, has been down the beach and seems nice and bright.
“I thought the last 200 metres was great, but the barrier cost us and just put us back a bit and not on the tail of Anamoe when he balanced up.”
A winner of the Gr.2 Stutt Stakes (1600m), the three-year-old would need to be given the nod by the MVRC committee to take his place in the lineup.
Finishing sixth in the Caulfield Guineas, So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral) won the Gr.3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) before finishing fifth in the Caulfield Guineas and going on to win the race, while more recently Grandslam (Myboycharlie) finished third and Royal Symphony (Domesday) fourth and got the nod to compete in the Cox Plate.
A potential start in the Cox Plate leading into the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) may not be where the campaign ends for the colt.
“If he goes to a Derby and wins we are toying with the idea of backing him up in the Cup,” Young professed.
“They used to do it years ago.
“That’s the ultimate plan but we will have to take each run as it comes.”
Rupert Clarke Stakes winner Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma) will also continue her spring preparation after finishing last in the Gr. 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m).
“She pulled up with heart fibrillation,” Young revealed.
“She is okay now and will carry onto the Empire Rose.
“We haven’t had a lot of horses that have had that.
“It’s an electrolyte imbalance and she probably looked after herself on that hard track.
“She scoped fine and didn’t have a bleed which sometimes they can so it’s the best case scenario really.”
