He’s slipped under punters’ guards at his past two starts but Stephen Marsh is expecting Antrim Coast (NZ) (Roc De Cambes) to be one of the favourites when he tackles Saturday’s Listed Galilee Series Final (2400m) at Caulfield.
The improving three-year-old ran a blinder at $157 when second to Orchestral (NZ) (Savabeel) in the NZ Derby (2400m) last month, before backing up that performance with a shock win at $51 in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at The Valley last start.
His Kiwi trainer said Antrim Coast has trained on well and is thriving with his work in Melbourne.
Instead of tackling the G1 ATC Derby (2400m) in Sydney, Marsh said connections are using Saturday’s race as a preparatory run for next month’s G1 SA Derby (2500m) in Adelaide.
“He hasn’t missed a beat since the Alister Clark, he bounced out of it great and has trained on really well,” Marsh said.
“His form looks pretty rock solid now.
“He’s always been quite an unassuming horse, although he’s very strong and if you looked at him, you’d think he was a four-year-old gelding.
“He’s probably one of those horses that never shows brilliance with trials or races over shorter distances – even in his trackwork he just does what he has to – but he just keeps coming back for more.
“We always thought he’d be that Derby sort of horse because we knew he’d cop a solid preparation.
“He’s just a bloody gem of a horse to train.”
By Roc De Cambes, who stands for a modest $3000 at The Oaks Stud in New Zealand, Antrim Coast is out of the Sakhee’s Secret mare Coasting (NZ), who was a winner over 1000m.
Coasting is a daughter G1 winner Keepa Cruisin (NZ) (Keepa), who is a half-sister to brilliant mare Seachange.
It’s the same family as boom two-year-old colt Storm Boy (Justify), who tackles Saturday’s ATC Sires’ in Sydney, but Marsh said Antrim Coast also showed a penchant for long-distance racing.
“He’s always looked like he’d want to get up over a bit further,” he said.
“A lot of the Roc De Cambes generally love to get over a trip.
“If you went back and looked at Roc De Cambes’ stats, I reckon he’s a pretty good stallion and he leaves some really nice horses.”
