Weekend Hussler to take on Asian Grand Slam
November 23rd 2008 06:34
Good Ba Ba is expected to win the Group Two International Mile Trial later today at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.
(photo: Kenneth Chan)
Good Ba Ba has been the dominant horse in Hong Kong for some time and is the only horse to achieve a grand slam of Hong Kong’s four major mile races.
He was awarded Hong Kong’s Horse Of The Year in 2007-2008.
But international competition of the highest calibre is heading his way. Ross McDonald has devised an agenda for Weekend Hussler just as bold as that which he prepared in the 2008 Melbourne Spring - then targeting the Caulfield Cup; WS Cox Plate; and the Melbourne Cup. As it was to eventuate Weekend Hussler would only contest the first of these - the Caulfield Cup - and the realisation that he just would not stay saw an early Spring spell for the Australian Champion.
This time McDonald has set a plan for Weekend Hussler to win all four legs of the Asian Mile Challenge (AMC). The key word in this plan is ‘mile’. This time Weekend Hussler will be competing at - and trained specifically for - his best distance range. And if he can return to the form he showed as a three year old, this ambitious plan is achievable.
The beauty of this venture is that the first leg of the big four mile races is the MRC Futurity Stakes at Caulfield - the home track of Weekend Hussler and the scene of some of his most dominant performances.
The second leg of the AMC is the $US5 million Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night (March 28th). The third leg on April 26th is the $12HK million Champions Mile at Sha Tin - and the grand slam finishes at Tokyo on June the 7th for the running of the Yasuda Kinen.
“There is a [US$] 2 million bonus if he can win three legs of the Asian Mile series and he would probably pick up about [US$] 10 million in total if he can win the four races we are targeting.”
"The idea of heading overseas was tossed around earlier in the year, so it has been more than 12 months of planning and organisation.”
"We realised that this was probably the best year to do it. He will be at his peak so we thought we will give it a shot - you can't just go over there as an afterthought." - Ross McDonald.
To begin this ambitious target Weekend Hussler will resume racing on February the 14th in the Group One Australia Stakes (formerly known as the William Reid Stakes) over 1200m at Moonee Valley. It will be a treat to see Weekend Hussler return to the stage as a sprinter/miler again. The last two winners of the Australia Stakes have been champion sprinters: Apache Cat (2008) and Miss Andretti (2007).
Weekend Hussler would then go into the Futurity Stakes 14 days later - second up - on the 28th of February.
The Futurity Stakes has been run for most of its history (from 1898) at 1400m. In 2006 it was included as the first leg of the Asian Mile Challenge and the distance then increased to one mile (1600m).
This is another ambitious plan from Ross McDonald for Weekend Hussler. But this one is far more logical than the last.
Good Ba Ba preparing for the International Mile Trial
(photo: Kenneth Chan)
Good Ba Ba has been the dominant horse in Hong Kong for some time and is the only horse to achieve a grand slam of Hong Kong’s four major mile races.
He was awarded Hong Kong’s Horse Of The Year in 2007-2008.
But international competition of the highest calibre is heading his way. Ross McDonald has devised an agenda for Weekend Hussler just as bold as that which he prepared in the 2008 Melbourne Spring - then targeting the Caulfield Cup; WS Cox Plate; and the Melbourne Cup. As it was to eventuate Weekend Hussler would only contest the first of these - the Caulfield Cup - and the realisation that he just would not stay saw an early Spring spell for the Australian Champion.
This time McDonald has set a plan for Weekend Hussler to win all four legs of the Asian Mile Challenge (AMC). The key word in this plan is ‘mile’. This time Weekend Hussler will be competing at - and trained specifically for - his best distance range. And if he can return to the form he showed as a three year old, this ambitious plan is achievable.
The beauty of this venture is that the first leg of the big four mile races is the MRC Futurity Stakes at Caulfield - the home track of Weekend Hussler and the scene of some of his most dominant performances.
The second leg of the AMC is the $US5 million Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night (March 28th). The third leg on April 26th is the $12HK million Champions Mile at Sha Tin - and the grand slam finishes at Tokyo on June the 7th for the running of the Yasuda Kinen.
“There is a [US$] 2 million bonus if he can win three legs of the Asian Mile series and he would probably pick up about [US$] 10 million in total if he can win the four races we are targeting.”
"The idea of heading overseas was tossed around earlier in the year, so it has been more than 12 months of planning and organisation.”
"We realised that this was probably the best year to do it. He will be at his peak so we thought we will give it a shot - you can't just go over there as an afterthought." - Ross McDonald.
To begin this ambitious target Weekend Hussler will resume racing on February the 14th in the Group One Australia Stakes (formerly known as the William Reid Stakes) over 1200m at Moonee Valley. It will be a treat to see Weekend Hussler return to the stage as a sprinter/miler again. The last two winners of the Australia Stakes have been champion sprinters: Apache Cat (2008) and Miss Andretti (2007).
Weekend Hussler would then go into the Futurity Stakes 14 days later - second up - on the 28th of February.
The Futurity Stakes has been run for most of its history (from 1898) at 1400m. In 2006 it was included as the first leg of the Asian Mile Challenge and the distance then increased to one mile (1600m).
This is another ambitious plan from Ross McDonald for Weekend Hussler. But this one is far more logical than the last.
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Comment by Leonard Marlborough
Racing Write