Ballarat trainer Archie Alexander has Derby aspirations for High Approach who returns to racing at Moonee Valley.
A veteran of five starts, High Approach tackles older horses for the first time when he lines up in the Ladbroke It! Handicap (1500m) on Saturday.
The Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick in April and the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) at Morphettville the following month are the Derbies that Alexander is considering.
“It will be just dependant on how he is going timing wise, but it would be great to get to Sydney,” Alexander said.
“Sydney is the rough plan fourth-up, but there is a long way to go.”
High Approach has had two racing preparations to date.
He commenced his career running fifth behind Caulfield Guineas winner Golden Mile at Ballarat in April before heading to a Listed race over 1400m at Flemington on Anzac Day, finishing ninth to Tijuana.
In his comeback run last spring, High Approach was a first-up fourth behind Yaki Ishi at Geelong before taking out a Ballarat maiden win on the synthetic track and then landing the prize in the Listed TAB Trophy (1800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.
Alexander explained the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington, three days before his Melbourne Cup Day win, came up too soon.
And Alexander was surprised at the odds High Approach went around at in that Flemington success.
“The thing that threw a lot of people off his maiden win was it was on the Ballarat synthetic, but it was supposed to be at Bendigo, but it got transferred,” Alexander said.
“That’s why everyone went off the race a bit, but if you win a Bendigo maiden, it reads a lot better than a Ballarat synthetic maiden.”
Alexander expects the 1500m trip will be too short for High Approach on Saturday, but he said the gelding had been training well for his return.
“He’s done very little wrong. The 1500 metres will be a bit sharp for him but he’s in good form,” Alexander said.
“We’ve always liked him, and in his debut, he ran behind the Guineas winner and whether we knew it or not, he has always raced against good horses.”
