OTI Racing have already won one Derby with Cambridge trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman and they will be hoping to secure another this weekend with exciting three-year-old Quick Thinker (So You Think).
The owner-trainer partnership united to win the 2018 Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) with Vin De Dance, and they look to have another strong Derby contender in Quick Thinker, who took out Saturday’s Gr.2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
The son of So You Think is set to back up in Saturday’s Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick and OTI Racing Principal Terry Henderson is hopeful of another good showing.
“He has become a much stronger horse this prep. He has strengthened up and his win was very good on Saturday,” Henderson said.
“I think from that we can go into the Derby with some confidence, especially with a little bit of give in the ground.
“It will be an interesting Derby. What Castelvecchio does I think will be interesting because if they wait for the Queen Elizabeth (Gr.1, 2000m) we would be delighted, but that is probably unlikely.”
Melbourne-based Henderson is a strong advocate for New Zealand racing and believes preparing horses in New Zealand is a cost-effective option for Australian owners.
Photo: Trish Dunell
“I thoroughly enjoy our Kiwi connections,” he said. “We have got horses with Murray, Roger (James and Robert Wellwood), and down south with Michael (and Matthew) Pitman.
“If you have good horses, the economics of having them trained in New Zealand and brought to Australia is quite good.”
Henderson is also looking forward to potentially backing up the Chris Waller-trained Night’s Watch in Saturday’s Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) after his victory in the Gr.3 Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on the weekend.
“That win was very welcome. He was starting to become a bit frustrating that horse,” Henderson said.
“He ran second in the Toorak (Gr.1, 1600m) at Caulfield last prep, but he’s a horse that has been consistently slow out of the gates and has proved to be quite frustrating because he then relies on luck, which he did get his share of on Saturday.
“He has been racing well, but when they give the others a start it is always going to be difficult.
“We have got him in the Doncaster and Queen Elizabeth (Gr.1, 2000m). The Queen Elizabeth I think will be far too tough, but the Doncaster is a possibility. We could miss both of those and go to a Group Three the following week.
“We will just see how he pulls up, but my gut feeling is I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the Doncaster.”
While New Zealand racing has temporarily ceased as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Henderson has been pleased racing has continued in Australia.
“I think our industry have been extremely responsible,” he said. “We were on the front foot very early, putting measures in place to protect people. “But we are hanging on a shoe-string here, going day-to-day and hoping not to get any bad news. If we did get some, we would be up against it to retain it (racing).”
