OTI principal Terry Henderson warns promising stayer Attorney is a “ridiculously brief rate” and says he could be happy if the former European should fill only a putting notwithstanding having a stranglehold on betting for his first Saturday run.
Hinting he could retain to ship horses to NSW to cash on in on the country’s prize cash bonanza, Henderson and instructor Matthew Smith gets their strongest indication yet of Attorney’s credentials in a 2000 metre handicap at Randwick.
The four-12 months-old has received his handiest two Australian begins at Newcastle and Canterbury after Henderson plucked Attorney out of France closing year. It became sufficient for BetEasy to shop him as quick as $2.05 in early markets on Thursday.
But Henderson has grave fears approximately how his gelding will deal with the handicapping situations, set to carry 54kg after Jason Collett become given permission to experience the horse overweight. Attorney remains a seventy six-rater and will provide most effective 5kg to topweight Mask Of Time, that is benchmarked 22 points higher than the fave.
“He’s badly handicapped,” Henderson stated.
“It was a bit of a toss-up [whether to run in Brisbane or Sydney] and the reality is even though he ran inside the placings it is probably going to be a good effort the manner he is handicapped.
“I assume he is a ridiculously short rate. He’s doing the whole thing right. He’s a bit like High Bridge who was very good in his first runs and he did run a nice race in the [group 1] Metrop, however in a ordinary Saturday race he ran down the track. You’ve got to be a piece cautious with these horses.”
Henderson swooped on the horse formerly prepared via Melbourne Cup-prevailing trainer Mikel Delzangles of Dunaden repute after his maiden win at Clairefontaine, just his 2d begin in a race.
Connections have resisted making any grand plans with the pony, which took 10 months to get to the races in Australia after his last European begin.
“He become a pleasing galloper,” Henderson stated. “I think he won a race in Clairefontaine and we bought him off that.
“He confirmed above average potential to win that and that became essentially the catalyst to buy him. To be frank, he wasn’t inexpensive. But he might were a completely famous horse on the Arc sale and I was eager to get him before then.
“We left him there for 2 runs and he ran a pleasing race first-up and the second one time he ran a shocker. Fundamentally, things simply didn’t cross proper the second one time for a ramification of motives.”
Henderson is sending a developing quantity of runners up the Hume Highway after previously expressing disenchantment with factors of the Victorian enterprise, an advantage for NSW-based totally running shoes headed by Chris Waller.
But it’s far the affiliation with the Warwick Farm-primarily based Smith which seems to be a blossoming one, Henderson impressed with each element of the understated teacher’s yard.
Smith credit a three-yr stint with Irish schooling genius Aidan O’Brien for supporting familiarise himself with former European horses after embarking on a deliberate plan to internationalise his stable.
“We made a aware selection whilst all the wheels had been beginning to fall off in Victoria a couple of years in the past we have been going to region more horses in NSW,” Henderson said.
“I stated to [former ATC chairman] Laurie [Macri], ‘I’d see us having 20 horses up there interior of three years’. I think we’ve got were given 20 there internal of two years.
“We constructed the relationship up from there and to be pretty frank Sydney with Chris, Matt and Kris Lees … The horses are extraordinarily properly located with what I take into account to be 3 very extraordinary running shoes. They cover all the bases. They’re exact communicators and they are top horsemen of their own proper, but they’re right expert trainers.
