The Chosen One (NZ) (Savabeel) pleased trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman with his 1200m trial at Matamata on Tuesday ahead of his autumn campaign.
“He did everything we expected of him,” Forsman said. “We didn’t ask him for too much.
“In a perfect world he is a couple of gallops and a week away from a trial, but this is just the way the schedule panned out for him.
“It is good to give him a day out and a hit-out on what is a pretty forgiving track (Dead6).”
The son of Savabeel is set to cross the Tasman once again this year after his successful spring campaign in Melbourne, which included victory in the Gr.2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m).
While The Chosen One recorded a Group Two victory over spring, Forsman believes he will be better suited to Sydney in the autumn, the scene of his Gr.3 Packer Plate (2000m) victory and fourth-placing in the Gr.1 ATC Derby (2400m).
“It’s hard on those flat, fast tracks in Melbourne and I think if we get him to Sydney in the form he was in last autumn he will be very competitive,” Forsman said.
“We have nothing mapped out at this stage. We just have to get him fit, do the leg work here and then in the next month or so we will start to sit down and map out a path for him.
“Getting to the end of March and April, that’s when the serious races come around and as long as we have him at concert pitch by then we will be happy.”
Forsman alluded The Chosen One may have another trial before he returns to the races.
“It’s a possibility that he will trial again before he races,” he said. “There is a decent gap in the trial schedule now, so he might not need one, he might just have a trip away and an exhibition gallop to tune him up.”
