Cambridge trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman know what it takes to prepare a Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) winner, having put the polish on 2015 victor Mongolian Khan (Holy Roman Emperor).
The champion New Zealand trainers will be represented in the A$5 million contest by The Chosen One (NZ) on Saturday, with the four-year-old son of Savabeel rocketing into contention care of a dominant win in last week’s Gr.2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m).
The stars looked to be aligning for the talented entire, who has been allotted just 52kgs for the Caulfield Cup, however Wednesday’s barrier draw has made replacement rider Stephen Baster’s task tougher, with The Chosen One set to jump from the outside barrier in the capacity field of 18.
“It is far from ideal, that’s for sure, but he is a horse whose racing pattern is to get back and come with one run,” Forsman said.
“To do that from the outside barrier draw obviously makes it even harder because you think at some point he is going to get caught wide. Hopefully he can get that spot with a bit of cover two or three off the fence.
“I guess the key will be following the right horses into the race at the right time.
“Hopefully they go quick enough up front, but those sort of things you can’t bank on, you just have to wait and see how it all plays out.”
Forsman took heart from the fact some of the more favoured runners including Finche (Frankel), Brimham Rocks (Fastnet Rock) and Japanese galloper Mer De Glace (Rulership) had also drawn poorly, however he is not convinced there is a lot of tempo on paper.
“Our horse is relatively one dimensional and we are not going to try and do anything stupid. We can’t worry about the pace of the race too much. It is more just a matter of him going back, dropping in for a bit of cover and getting the drag on the back of the right horse.
“There are a couple of handy ones drawn out and around him, so that will be a little bit of an advantage.
“Mer De Glace looks a good horse and it has drawn poorly just inside us, so if we can flop back and get on the back of that at some point then just give ourselves the best chance really.”
Forsman will be front and centre at Caulfield this weekend, with his more senior training partner to watch on from his base in Cambridge.
“It is very exciting and great to be a part of,” Forsman said. “To have an in-form horse who is only going to improve off his last run is certainly a big plus, but the barrier does temper the enthusiasm slightly.”
The 37-year-old horseman joined Baker in partnership in the 2012-13 season after more than a decade as an understudy, but the partnership wasn’t recognised in Australia when Mongolian Khan saluted in the race four years ago.
“It is great to get any recognition you can and having your name up there helps, but it was a great thrill when Mongolian Khan won, and hopefully this horse runs well,” Forsman said.
The winner of five of his 14 starts, The Chosen One is raced by a 19-strong syndicate from New Zealand, which includes breeders the Dennis Brothers – Tony, Joe, Ray and Martin – who bred the colt under their Ravelston Stud Banner.
“It will be a big bunch of owners there which will be good, and I’d love to see him get every chance to have a fair crack at it,” Forsman said.
“The Dennis Brothers’ association with Murray goes back a long way, having bred The Phantom in the early 90s.”
Forsman said the neatly built son of Savabeel was generally pretty good to work with, although he could be a little bit colty at times and blinkers had been applied at various stages throughout his career to date.
“When he does get in a a good vein of form and he hits his straps, which it looks like he has, then he has shown real ability and certainly the ability to win a race like this if he gets the right run.
“His was a massive run in the Australian Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) when fourth and it was even a good run in the New Zealand Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) before he went over there.
“Backing that up and winning the Frank Packer (Gr.3, 2000m) at the end of his preparation gave us great hope heading into the spring that he was a late maturing horse that was only just starting to hit his straps.”
Forsman is not the only young Kiwi trainer with runners in the Caulfield Cup, with good mates Stephen Marsh and Trent Busuttin, who trains in partnership with Natalie Young, also legging up race rivals, while ex-pat Chris Waller will saddle two of the favourites.
“I guess when you look at it like that, it is quite an achievement for New Zealand,” Forsman said.
“What Chris has done since moving to Australia is phenomenal and Trent and Natalie, as well as Stephen have done great things in their own right, so hopefully in time I can do what they have done. I look forward to competing against them on Saturday.”
