Slow and steady wins the race.
Patrick Payne doesn’t yet know what race, but he’s hoping a patient approach with gun stayer Dunkel (NZ) (Dundeel) might potentially be able to yield a Caulfield or Melbourne Cup in 2025.
The SA Derby winner reappears in form guides for the first time since his Group One triumph in an open handicap over 1800m at Caulfield on Saturday.
It’s perhaps an unconventional pathway for a Group One winner’s long-awaited return but Payne is often anything but conventional.
While there were millions of reasons to have the son of Dundeel back in work earlier for a tilt at spring riches, the horseman in him won out.
Payne knew his young star needed an extended break after a maiden racing campaign that spanned eight races across three states.
“The temptation was there obviously but he had a fairly strenuous three-year-old campaign where he was here, there and everywhere,” Payne said.
“We tried to utilise those set weights and penalties races as a three-year-old so we decided to give him a long spell.
“It’s very deep water for horses to go from racing against their own age as three-year-olds to running against older horses that haven’t fluked getting to that higher grade.
“It’s very hard to find a horse as good as this so once you get one, you have to look after them.
“He’s had a nice, long break and he’s strengthened up a little bit so we’re really keen to get him back to the races.
“He’s had a really long foundation so he’s fairly forward to run well but obviously he’ll be getting better at his third, fourth and fifth run for the preparation.”
Dunkel’s slow spring build-up has included typically quiet trials at Seymour and Benalla in recent weeks and Payne has seen enough to think the gelding is forward enough to run well in Saturday’s race, in which he faces only five rivals.
The Listed Ballarat Cup (2200m) and the Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m) shape as short-term targets while a return to Morphettville for a shot at the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) is a realistic target and the perfect opportunity to test Dunkel’s two-mile credentials, according to Payne.
As things stand, he’s a $51 Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup prospect in Sportsbet’s all-in markets for the 2024 staying showpieces.
“We’ll try to do something clever with him as a five-year-old if he’s good enough,” he said.
“100% he’d be a beautiful two mile horse and we might test the water in the Adelaide Cup and if he’s good enough, we can enter for the Melbourne Cup next year because we’d be mad keen.”
