Lost And Running had his critics at the start of the spring, but one person who never lost belief in the horse was John O’Shea.
The gelding was chosen for an Everest slot after winning six of his first seven starts in lesser grade, only to take on the seasoned sprinters for the first time in The Shorts and finish a well-beaten last.
It raised the question of whether his Everest selection had been premature – was he just an above-average horse who had found his level?
O’Shea was never one of the doubters.
Lost And Running improved second-up to run fourth to Masked Crusader in the Premiere Stakes then raised the bar again with an outstanding fourth behind Nature Strip, Masked Crusader and Eduardo in The Everest.
But it was the next two runs O’Shea marked as winnable targets.
The first of those came in the Classique Legend Stakes when Lost And Running finished a fine second to Eduardo, settling three-wide with cover from an outside draw and closing strongly.
The next comes in Saturday’s $1 million The Hunter (1300m) at Newcastle, the final start of a spring campaign that has been a careful and deliberate laying of foundations for a realistic shot at next year’s Everest.
“He came in for a bunch of criticism early doors and it never worried me too much because we knew where he was in terms of his fitness and his preparation,” O’Shea said.
“We just had belief in the horse and he’s repaid us in spades.
“I was realistic in what we could achieve in The Everest. I didn’t necessarily think we were a winning chance, I thought we would be a good chance to finish top five which is more than an effective result.
“But we were always optimistic his next two runs would be his best.”
Lost And Running will have to cope with another wide draw on Saturday after coming up with gate 17, although he will jump from 14 if the four emergencies don’t run.
O’Shea is leaving tactics in the capable hands of Hugh Bowman.
“I’ll just leave it to Hugh. He is seeing them pretty well at the moment,” O’Shea said.
“I’m going there really happy with the preparation we’ve had and where the horse is at.”
Lost And Running is a $3.20 favourite to end his preparation with victory in The Hunter with Top Ranked ($4.80) and Bandersnatch ($6.50) the only other runners under double-figure odds.