Inside Running: Sir Dragonet to be tested over shorter trip in race return
There’s no such thing as a free lunch and two of the country’s leading riders, Jye McNeil and Damien Oliver, were wondering just how costly attending a shindig put on by the Victorian Racing Media Association was going to turn out to be.
Melbourne Cup-winning rider McNeil and multiple champion Oliver were two of a handful of guests - trainers Robbie Griffiths and Matt de Kock, Ciaron Maher and the man who picked up the hack’s gong as personality of the year, ex-North Melbourne coach Denis Pagan - who fronted for the grub and grog fest at The Emerald on Monday.
After one of the guests discovered that he had been at one of the sites where the most recent COVID-19 positive - the quarantine hotel worker - had also visited there was a nervous wait for all concerned as they held on to discover whether or not they could take their booked rides or attend Saturday’s Caulfield meeting, the first group 1 fixture of 2021.
Jockey Jye McNeil. Credit:Getty Images
But on Friday morning Racing Victoria gave the all clear - ensuring that a relatively inexpensive pub lunch did not turn out to be very pricey indeed.
Both men have a host of winning chances with eight rides each on the nine-race Caulfield card, including mounts in the group 1 CF Orr Stakes, where McNeil is booked for Angel of Truth while Oliver will partner Sovereign Award for Danny O’Brien.
Most interest in the race will, of course, be on the resuming Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet, who has his first start since finishing sixth in the Melbourne Cup under his Plate-winning partner Glen Boss.
Horsing around: Sir Dragonet and trainer Ciaron Maher before the Melbourne Cup last year. Credit:Vince Caligiuri
Eyebrows will surely be raised in Ballydoyle, base of Coolmore’s master trainer Aidan O’Brien, if the Dragon can scoop the group 1 prize here over 1400-metres en route to his next target, the All Star Mile at The Valley next month.
The shortest trip he ever raced over when trained by O’Brien was 2000m, while Maher and David Eustace, his Australian trainers, have only run him twice so far - in the 2000m Cox Plate and the 3200m Melbourne Cup.
But with a horse like Sir Dragonet - a son of Camelot, the 2000 Guineas and dual Epsom and Irish Derby winner - who is being lined up for a career at stud, a victory in a group 1 at 1600m or less would be a huge selling point, especially in this country.
Both Maher and his rider, Boss, believe he has the speed to be more than competitive at shorter trips and the pair were enthused about a recent trial win at Geelong.
If he can salute, chalk one up to the adventurousness of Australian trainers!
Michael Lynch is The Age's chief soccer reporter and also reports on motor sport and horseracing