Trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr did not expect to see a winter staying race at Flemington to be as strong as it is for their imported galloper Lordship.
The Inside Run Trophy (2530m) on Saturday has attracted Post Impressionist and Berkshire Breeze who are being talked of as contenders in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington in November.
Price and Kent Jnr hope to one day to be talking of Lordship as a Cup contender, but in the meantime are looking to see what the stayer can produce at his second Australian start.
Lordship made his Australian debut at Sandown on June 3, finishing well back over 1800m.
The Price and Kent Jnr stable then elected to pour some work into the German-bred stayer with a view of getting some racing under the belt and build his profile during winter.
“The 2500 metres will really suit him,” Kent Jnr said.
“We’ve set him a task second-up, but we just wanted to get him out to his right journey and as he’s got a high enough rating there’s not a race every second week for him, so you have to work around the program.
“He’ll really enjoy that tempo, and what we’re trying is to make the horse.
“He’s come through the handicapping route in England. He was trained by my ex-boss, William Haggas, and he highly recommended him.
“He’s a lovely clean-winded animal but I think Saturday is just about finding his feet, finding rhythm and working home and then there’s another race in three weeks’ time where he will be fitter again and there might not be the likes of Post Impressionist and Berkshire Breeze.”
Kent Jnr said Lordship would tell them how far he progresses in the spring.
The co-trainer was not ruling out an attempt at The Archer (2500m) or The Bart Cummings (2500m), both Melbourne Cup qualifiers at Flemington in the next couple of months, but would be guided by what Lordship does on Saturday and in his next outing.
“It’s totally up to the horse, and these imports can go one of two ways,” Kent Jnr said.
“We’re learning about them all the time, they can either hit the ground running, or the other type can take two preps and nine to12 months to really acclimatise properly.
“He’s a nice horse, nice and sound, but just in the middle of winter we didn’t expect to see the likes of Post Impressionist or Berkshire Breeze who are very talented horses.
“Hopefully we’re Berkshire Breeze in 12 months’ time.”