There would be few horses with more frequent flyer points than Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls), and the well-travelled gelding racked up a few more earlier this week when he hopped across the Tasman.
The seven-year-old son of Sacred Falls has landed in Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s Gr.2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, and trainer Andrew Forsman said he has made himself at home at his Flemington base.
“He has travelled over great,” Forsman said. “He flew over on Sunday, so he had a good gallop on Saturday morning before he left, and he will just have one tomorrow (Thursday) morning and Vlad Duric (jockey) will come in and gallop him at Flemington.”
Forsman kicked off Aegon’s spring preparation last year in the same race, where he finished third behind Mr Brightside, and the Cambridge horseman said he will need to overcome another awkward barrier this weekend.
“He has drawn the visitor’s barrier (11) again, we haven’t had much luck there,” he said.
“He ran really well last year. He is probably coming up with a slightly shorter prep (this year), but he has a good couple of trials.
“He will need the run a touch, some of them have had a bit of racing but I think in a fresh state he always tends to run well enough. From the awkward draw it is just a matter of him getting the right run.”
Forsman is unsure what the remainder of spring has instore for Aegon, but he said it could turn into a hit-and-run mission in Melbourne, with plenty of opportunities back in New Zealand for the gelding.
“It is pretty much just race-by-race with him,” Forsman said. “There are options for him in Melbourne and there is also the option of bringing him home for the Tarzino (Gr.1, 1400m) if we thought it was going to be the right race. That may be his only run in Melbourne, it all depends on how he goes.”
Closer to home on Saturday, Forsman will line-up three debutants at Ruakaka, including Kitty Flash in the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
Forsman won the race two years ago with Group One winner Lickety Split, and he believes Kitty Flash is capable of featuring in the finish, with the daughter of Ace High having won all three of her trials to date.
“Kitty Flash has been thrown in the deep end a bit,” Forsman said. “It is an awkward barrier, eight of 10, so she is going to have her work cut out for her, but we thought if she got the right run, she has shown enough at the trials and in her trackwork, she is a top three chance.”
Stablemates Richard And I and Retrostar will also make their debuts in the Croft Poles (1200m).
“Richard And I is a nice horse by Ocean Park,” Forsman said. “He is maybe a touch immature but has shown good ability right the way through, so I expect him to run well.
“Retrostar is in the same boat. While his trial form may not look like it, he has always looked nice enough and I think in time he will develop into a realty nice horse, it’s just a matter of getting him to the races and making a start.”
Forsman’s stable heads into the weekend in good form, having scored a winning double at Cambridge’s Synthetic meeting on Wednesday courtesy of Magnastar and Ghadah.
“The locally-trained horses are always hard to beat at Cambridge and I was very happy with the way our horses performed today,” Forsman said. “They have all gone well and to have a couple of winners was great.”
