It's going to take an outlandish offer to buy Stagger, the latest bush two-year-old with a boom set to hit Sydney racing this week.Trained at Orange in central west NSW, Stagger ran modest time but posted a 12-1/4 length winning marginon debut at Canberra to attract the attention of equine talent scouts."I had a couple of fair dinkum offers as well as a couple of mugs who rang me who must have thought I was a mug," trainer Brian Buckley said."They wanted to pinch him. They could probably smell t
It's going to take an outlandish offer to buy Stagger, the latest bush two-year-old with a boom set to hit Sydney racing this week.
Trained at Orange in central west NSW, Stagger ran modest time but posted a 12-1/4 length winning marginon debut at Canberra to attract the attention of equine talent scouts.
"I had a couple of fair dinkum offers as well as a couple of mugs who rang me who must have thought I was a mug," trainer Brian Buckley said.
"They wanted to pinch him. They could probably smell the gum leaves on me."
Asked if Stagger was on the market, Buckley, a successful businessman, said: "You don't sell your kids do you.
"I've waited a long time to get a good one."
Buckley, who owns carpet shops in Orange and Bathurst, snapped up Stagger, a son of emerging sire Snippetson, for $9000 at last year's Classic yearling sale in Sydney.
He expected a first-up win at Canberra but the wide margin came as a mild shock.
"I didn't think he would win by that far," Buckley said.
"They're saying he didn't run any time but it's hard to run any faster when you are out so far on your own."
Leading country jockey Kody Nestor enjoyed an armchair ride at Canberra but Buckley has called on the experience of Jim Cassidy for Saturday's $100,000 Listed Canonbury Stakes (1100m) at Randwick.
"I've known Jim for many years through our mutual friend (fitness expert) Malcolm Ayoub.
"He was only too happy to ride him for me."
Buckley has to wind the clock back 20 years to find a stable comparison with the colt.
"Probably the best horse I've had was Netsirk. He won two races at Warwick Farm in 1990," Buckley said.
"But I think this horse is a bit better.
"How good? I don't know. That's why I'm taking him down to Sydney this weekend.
"I know he's city-class but I don't know if he is Wednesday level, Saturday class or up to Listed (stakes) grade."
Buckley says the behind-the-scenes work of John Wilson, a former amateur jockey, has help to unearth the talent in Stagger.
"I've been a bit crook and John has done 99 per cent of the work with him," Buckley said.
Buckley returns to the cauldron of city racing on the 12-month anniversary of losing the honest sprinter Al Mahboob who broke down in a race on the Kensington track.
Four Golden Slipper second acceptors have been entered for the Canonbury but Stagger wasn't even nominated for the $3.5 million race.
"We're usually just happy to win a race at Coonamble," Buckley said.
The four Slipper hopefuls are Induna (Peter Snowden), Rock Monster (Gerald Ryan), Wild And Proud (Gai Waterhouse) and Written Consent (Grahame Begg).