Sydney punters will only get to see The Offer in the flesh during exhibition gallops and barrier trials with trainer Gai Waterhouse indicating he will campaign solely in Melbourne throughout the spring. The Offer will gallop between races at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday and while it is still four months from the Melbourne Cup, Waterhouse said there is no concern about her imported stayer being up too early.
"I did it last year with Fiorente. He had his first barrier trial in the middle of July and so too will The Offer," she said.
"He will have a nice gallop at Rosehill and then trial at Randwick at the next set of trials.
"I think they have to be in this early, it means we don't have to rush, we can take our time and make sure he has a good grounding. You need to have a good base with the stayers, they need the miles into their legs."
Waterhouse said talk was high about The Offer during her recent visit to England with many surprised how much he has improved in Sydney.
"He was a very hot topic of conversation at Royal Ascot, a lot of people are amazed how much he has come on and I think he can continue to improve during the spring," Waterhouse said.
While The Offer is back at a similar time to Fiorente was last year, Waterhouse said her Melbourne Cup favourite wouldn't follow the exact same path as her Melbourne Cup winner.
"He is a very different horse to Fiorente, he won't go the weight-for-age path so we will keep him to handicap races," she said.
"He will go towards the Caulfield Cup and then on to the Melbourne Cup from there.
"I think the best option is to start his campaign in Melbourne and then continue on from there, rather than be floating between Sydney and Melbourne mid-preparation." (Racing Network)