Ross McDonald says promising three-year-old Swift Bay gives him his best chance yet to win the A R Creswick Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.The 1200m Listed Race has special significance for McDonald and his family as he used to train for the late Sir Alec Creswick who was chairman of the Victoria Racing Club from 1969 to 1977.Creswick bred many good racehorses and raced the champion filly True Course.McDonald said Bon Hoysted, his wife Margaret's father, had also trained for Creswick as did he
Ross McDonald says promising three-year-old Swift Bay gives him his best chance yet to win the A R Creswick Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
The 1200m Listed Race has special significance for McDonald and his family as he used to train for the late Sir Alec Creswick who was chairman of the Victoria Racing Club from 1969 to 1977.
Creswick bred many good racehorses and raced the champion filly True Course.
McDonald said Bon Hoysted, his wife Margaret's father, had also trained for Creswick as did her grandfather Fred "Father" Hoysted.
Swift Bay was bred by Sir Patrick Hogan at his Cambridge Stud but was passed in for $45,000 at New Zealand's Karaka Sale before McDonald clinched a deal to take the horse.
However a paddock accident when the Stravinsky gelding nearly had his hind legs severed almost ended his career before it started.
"We put him out when he came from New Zealand and he slid into a fence and an electric wire they had on the fence got hooked around his legs," he said.
"We were going to syndicate him but instead of selling shares in him straight away it took 18 months before he was sold as we had to patch him up."
Swift Bay won his race debut at Swan Hill last November, but it wasn't until just before his second start when runner-up to Grecian Choice at Moonee Valley in December that McDonald was able to syndicate him.
Several of the owners of star stablemate Weekend Hussler bought into the horse.
McDonald send Swift Bay for a spell after h won over 1400 metres at Caulfield on January 3.
He resumed with a 1-3/4 length second to Creswick rival Gold In Dubai over 1200m at Caulfield on May 23.
McDonald is hoping to win the Creswick or at least pick up some prizemoney to increase the chances of getting the horse into some of the better spring races.
"I used to train for Sir Alec so it would be nice to win the race," McDonald said.
"This is the best horse we've had get into the race."
McDonald has engaged Ben Melham to take the mount on Saturday.
Meanwhile reigning Horse-of-the Year Weekend Hussler is in the early stages of his build up to the spring carnival at McDonald's Caulfield base.
"He's been back at the stables for the past three or four weeks just doing some work on the water treadmill," McDonald said.
"He'll start doing some work on the track in a couple of weeks."