The New Zealand stable responsible for giving Australian racing its first glimpse of James McDonald’s prodigious talent is banking on a jockey reunion to deliver one of the jewels of the Melbourne Cup carnival.
:quality(70):focal(-5x-5:5x5)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/tvnz/SGQYGEHX6ZCA5K4PVUZKQ572QM.jpg)
Co-trainers Graeme and Debbie Rogerson have arranged for McDonald to ride Sharp ‘N’ Smart in the Victoria Derby, an older race than the Melbourne Cup and one that is also the main test of spring standing for three-year-olds.
It was Rogerson’s stable that gave McDonald his first major race win in Australia, and more than a decade later there is no rider more in demand than the 30-year-old.
“It’s great to have James. We gave James his first Australian Group One win and it was exciting for us and for him,” Debbie Rogerson told the NZ Racing Desk.
While McDonald has collected Group One victories at an astonishing rate since Scarlett Lady’s 2011 Queensland Oaks win, he has been poor choice for the Rogerson stable this side of the Tasman.
But a return to the Group One spotlight with Sharp ‘N’ Smart in the Champion Spring Stakes in Sydney has boosted the stable’s hopes it can play its part in a potential Derby day Kiwi ambush at Flemington.
“He’s tough and thrives on competition,” Rogerson said. “He’s super fit, he’s a happy horse and we’re really excited to go into the race on Saturday.”
That sense of anticipation is matched by Rogersons’ compatriot Andrew Forsman, who has Mr.
Forsman has taken over the stable of retired New Zealand Hall of Fame trainer Murray Baker with immediate success, making a carnival statement with three winners on Caulfield Cup day.
Baker compiled a remarkable strike rate when touring horses in Australia, enjoying Victoria Derby success with Lion Tamer in 2010 while Forsman oversaw the campaign.
Mr Maestro played in Forsman’s Caulfield treble, winning a major race to confirm his Derby claims and stay on course for a long-term aim to be in top form on one of the most important days of Australian soil.
“I want to try to win good races, giving owners the opportunity to target good races and reap the rewards from where we can,” Forsman said.
A good example is Mr.
“The starts we gave him as a two-year-old were mainly to build a good foundation for him, and then everything in his three-year-old preparation has been with the Derby in mind.”
First run in 1855, six years before the inaugural Melbourne Cup, the Derby ranks as the most prestigious of the three Group One races on Saturday.
Australia’s fastest three-year-old sprinters will compete in the $2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes, and fillies and mares will contest weight-for-age conditions in the $1 million Empire Rose Stakes.
McDonald will ride the favored runners in both races, with In Secret beating colts in the Coolmore and La Crique expected to turn an imposing New Zealand record into a winning Australian debut in the Empire Rose.
