After a spring of discontent, Australian Bloodstock is hoping its luck is about to turn as they assemble a formidable team for Newcastle’s feature stand-alone meeting.
The Hunter-based syndicators lost All-Star Mile winner Mugatoo for the start of the season through injury, while import Gold Trip was a controversial scratching from the Cox Plate when Racing Victoria veterinarians deemed him to be lame.
Director Jamie Lovett says it has been a tough run but with four contenders in Saturday’s $1 million The Hunter (1300m), that could be about to change.
“We’ve had a pretty flat spring, nothing went to plan,” Lovett said.
“We got vetted out of Melbourne and now we’re reloading the gun and we’ve got some lovely horses, so I’m really looking forward to kicking off.”
The Australian Bloodstock-owned Tactical Advantage finished second in the inaugural edition of The Hunter in 2019 and they again had to settle for the minor spoils last year with Special Reward.
The latter returns for another shot at the showpiece race on Saturday, alongside his Kris Lees-trained stablemates Gem Song and Wandabaa.
However, it is Group 1 Lockinge Stakes placegetter Top Ranked who is garnering the most interest as he prepares to make his local debut for Annabel Neasham.
Both Australian Bloodstock and Neasham were keen to buy the English miler to race in Australia, so they decided to join forces and Lovett said all the feedback since his arrival had been positive.
“He hasn’t turned a hair. We wouldn’t be running him off the plane like this unless we were really happy,” Lovett said.
“He is a high-class horse and the intel I got from over there from a few of the riders I trust, they all gave the horse a really big wrap.
“Whether he can win against a horse like Lost And Running at 1300, I don’t know, but he’ll race well, he’ll look good and we will all know where we sit going into the autumn.”