But the horse everybody is talking about is Willydoit, maybe the best horse the Clotworthys have ever had.
He has looked every inch the son of his Victoria Derby-winning sire Tarzino, with a huge stride and he could even go to a new level stepping up to 2100m today.
“Everything he has done suggests he will,” says Clotworthy.
“We bought him to try to win a Derby and so far, so good. He is an exciting horse and we think he keeps getting better.
“It is something new for us. We haven’t often had a horse so hot in a really big race and he is a horse that now comes with some expectation and, of course, he has that huge ownership base.
“But not much really changes. We still have to train him the same as every other horse. We just check on him first in the morning,” says Clotworthy.
Willydoit has drawn wide today but then again so have most of his key rivals and Clotworthy admits with the Derby two weeks away he will be happy to see jockey Masa Hashizume ride the hot favourite cold and have him winding up approaching the home turn.
If Willydoit can come out and blow his opponents away some, like exciting filly Hinekaha, could change tack to the New Zealand Oaks but today’s race is about far more than just that pair.
Bourbon Proof, Oceana Dream, Kiwi Skyhawk, Mustang Morgan, Golden Century, Skippers Canyon, Hakkinen and Australian visitor Thedoctoroflove could all go huge races today without surprising in what is a deeper-than-usual three-year-old staying crop, albeit one with a potential superstar at the head of the Derby market.
At any normal meeting this Guineas would dominate all chat today but this is anything but a standard black-type Saturday, with the addition of the Group 1 Sport Nation Classic, the Avondale Cup and the Uncle Remus Stakes.
All are serious races in their own right but also huge pointers to the enormous riches that lie ahead on Champions Day in two weeks.
The Avondale Cup is not only the major lead-up to the Auckland Cup on March 8 but, most importantly, whoever wins today can’t be re-handicapped for the Cup so there is no reason for anybody to leave anything in the tank.
About Time is not only favourite for today’s 2400m but also the 3200m of the Auckland Cup but Son Of Sun looked the value at $8 today as QEII Cup winner and he was excellent over a less suitable 1500m last start.
El Vencedor looks set to get all favours over Orchestral even though she is probably the more talented of the pair in the Sport Nation Classic. With the wonderful mare having already drifted to $4.20, if her price keeps heading north she may be impossible for punters to resist, even if only as a cover bet.
The Uncle Remus is a deep race but also a crucial form pointer for the $3.5million NZB Kiwi in a fortnight and the Lance O’Sullivan/Andrew Scott stable holds the key with both favourites, Sethito and Checkmate.
“We have four chances in the race but I opt for Checkmate as our best hope,” says O’Sullivan.
“He will probably have to settle back but he is a very good horse and I think Sethito will improve with the run.
“We also have Hankee Alpha and Tristar in there and neither of them would be out of place in the Kiwi.”
Trainer Stephen Marsh has told the Herald his Kiwi rep, Penman, will start in Race 4 so will come out of the Uncle Remus and that can only aid another go-forward horse in Dealt With (R8, No 2) who looks a good each-way chance.
Today’s racing
-Ellerslie, first race 1pm: Four black-type races including a Group 1
-Otaki, first race 12.40pm.
-Caulfield, first race 2.15pm NZ time: Three Group 1 races.
-Rosehill, 2.30pm NZ time: Three Group 2 races.
-Ashburton harness, first race 12.05 (Trackside 2).
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still at school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
