Derby and Oaks nominations are in, so lets see if we can unearth a few three-year-olds that might be worth an early wager. So which youngsters will be best suited by the 2500m? For the Victoria Derby, my top pick at this early stage is the impressive Leon Corstens-trained colt Zabeelionaire ($12). As his name would suggest, this exciting prospect is by the champion sire of stayers Zabeel. He also just happens to be out of a Carnegie mare, so on pedigree alone he should be suited by the taxing di
Derby and Oaks nominations are in, so lets see if we can unearth a few three-year-olds that might be worth an early wager. So which youngsters will be best suited by the 2500m? For the Victoria Derby, my top pick at this early stage is the impressive Leon Corstens-trained colt Zabeelionaire ($12). As his name would suggest, this exciting prospect is by the champion sire of stayers Zabeel. He also just happens to be out of a Carnegie mare, so on pedigree alone he should be suited by the taxing distance. His first start was in the listed McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley over 1200m, where he was slowest away and settled last in a field of 12. Zabeelionaire got home along the rails very nicely, however, and gave every indication that he would improve when allowed to compete over more ground. And improve he did out to 1500m (again at the Valley), flying home late behind Whisper Downs in a really eye-catching performance. He ran right away from the well-performed Costly Commitment in the final stages. This horse gives every impression that he will continue to get stronger as the distances get longer and I look forward to monitoring his progress this campaign. It will be especially interesting to see how Zabeelionaire fares away from Moonee Valley, as one would expect a bigger track like Flemington would suit him perfectly.
Another galloper I'm keen on from a Derby perspective is the South Australian-trained colt Perfect Punch ($51). This son of Starcraft has one win and two thirds from his short three-start career, and is trained (in part, at least) by Leon Macdonald, who is no stranger to Victoria Derby success. After his debut behind the impressive Niconoise over 1200m - when he really ground home doggedly for third - I immediately made a note that this bloke would be suited by a lot further. He put in another late closing effort for third over 1200m before breaking his maiden at Gawler when extended out to 1500m. He looked pretty dour that day and didn't win by much, but it was still a nice enough effort with longer distances in mind. Perfect Punch is nominated for a 1600m race against some far superior company this Saturday at Morphetville, so if he accepts and runs a good race it should be a good guide to his Derby prospects. Perhaps he's worth an early speculator at a good price regardless... Having just reexamined Perfect Punch's last video, you could probably do worse than have something small on fellow South Australian Son Of Caesar ($201), too! This bloke ran a great race at Gawler after hopelessly missing the start by 5 lengths. The son of Holy Roman Emperor also badly missed the start by a similarly hopeless margin at his previous run but still stormed home for third, beaten just one length in the end. He is nominated for the same race as Perfect Punch this Saturday, so hopefully he can improve his barrier manners and give us a truer gauge on what sort of ability he's got.
As mentioned last week, I'll also be keen to see how Collar ($21) measures up in higher grade. He's bred for this sort of race and I didn't mind how he found the line behind Moment of Change last time. I think he'll definitely prove to be one worth following as the trips get longer. Stablemate Salter ($17) and Robbie Laing's Pentire colt Scelto ($26) were both good behind Costly Commitment over 1700m at Caulfield and I definitely have them in the mix too.
It can be very rewarding identifying a staying type early and following them as they slowly progress to eventual riches, so hopefully one of those horses goes on to bigger things! My early thoughts on the VRC Oaks will be posted later this week.