Bart Cummings, the Hall of Fame trainer, once famously remarked that patience is the most affordable thing in racing.
For young Cranbourne trainer Alex Rae, that very virtue has been tested as he eagerly awaits Lofty Arch’s return to the racetrack this autumn.
Lofty Arch, a three-year-old colt with only three starts under his belt, will make his comeback in the Group 3 Zeditave Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield this Saturday.
The colt showed promise during his first campaign last spring, with an impressive win on debut at Cranbourne followed by a victory in the Listed Gothic Stakes (1200m) on October 26. He then went for a well-deserved spell.
It would have been easy to aim Lofty Arch at the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day, following his success, but Rae wisely opted for a more gradual approach to allow the colt more time to develop.
“He was thrown in the deep end his first preparation and dealt with it really well,” Rae said.
“When we discussed whether to run in the Coolmore, the only thing we could say with any confidence was that he was going to take a significant step from his first racing prep to this one.”
“He certainly has. All his data parameters have, and he’s a horse that has grown and got stronger.”
“The temptation was to start earlier, but the preparation always had to be methodical, so we decided to work back from a couple of suitable targets, in particular this time of year and it’s been slow the build-up.”
“He’s had three jump-outs and he’s found himself in good order on Saturday, so hopefully he can take that step forward.”
Rae has earmarked the Zeditave Stakes as a fitting place to begin Lofty Arch’s campaign against his peers, with hopes for further opportunities as the autumn progresses.
However, Rae’s primary focus is simply seeing Lofty Arch return in strong form.
“First-up, against his own age and then hopefully from that point on, if he progresses the way we hope, we can then target some better races,” Rae said.
“If he runs well on Saturday and if he shows he could take another step forward, we could look at the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.”
“But we’ll deal with Saturday first. They don’t give Group 3’s away, but we feel he’s taken a step forward and let’s hope he has.”
