The managing owner of the Caulfield Cup favourite has guaranteed a young Sydney gun the ride in the Melbourne spring.
Schiller has three Group 1s to his name including the Doncaster Mile and can enhance his impressive CV by scoring the Cup on $11 favourite Fawkner Park.
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The 2024 Caulfield Cup is on the same day as the $20m The Everest where the horse that Schiller rode to Doncaster glory, Celestial Legend, has not as yet been snaffled by a slot-holder and is currently rated a $15 chance.
Things can change quickly in racing but Schiller’s manager Hayden Kelly indicated the talented young jockey was keen to link with Fawkner Park in the spring.
Fawkner Park races in the colours of managing owner Nathan Bennett who told Racenet it was Schiller’s ride for the spring and it could even include a Melbourne Cup tilt.
“We are sticking with Tyler for sure, so he has got his Caulfield Cup ride,” Bennett said.
“Tyler has ridden this horse a treat so far.
“Jockeys do jump and change here and there, but I don’t think he will be doing that.
“The plan is the horse will go to the Underwood Stakes first-up and then possibly the Turnbull Stakes, but if we don’t need to go to the Turnbull we could just then go straight to the Caulfield Cup.
“The horse has got a lot of residual fitness from the Queensland winter.”
Tyler Schiller has already secured a ride in the Caulfield Cup. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images
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Annabel Neasham-trained Fawkner Park was one of the stars of the Queensland winter carnival, last seen when he rocketed to Caulfield Cup favouritism after blowing away his opposition by almost four lengths in the $1.2m Q22 (2200m) on Stradbroke Handicap day at Eagle Farm.
Before that he surged home to run third from near last in the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) and almost certainly would have won if the race was slightly longer.
Schiller rode him on both occasions and also in his prior runs when winning the Albury and Wagga Cups.
Irish import Fawkner Park has been patiently taken through the grades by Neasham, kicking off his Australian career last year when scoring a BM64 race over 1500m at Kembla Grange.
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Nathan Bennett, managing owner of Fawkner Park. Picture: Brad Fleet
Bennett said Fawkner Park had just returned to work and his trademark barnstorming finishes would be unleashed on a big spring mission.
It could potentially even include a Melbourne Cup attack.
“If he won the Caulfield Cup or finished top three and was flying home, we would be crazy not to go to the Melbourne Cup,” Bennett said.
“His one so-so run was in Melbourne (fourth in the Australian Cup Prelude) and he laid in that day, so we do want to see him go well the Melbourne way.
“But we are pretty sure the issue that day was because he had a sore pectoral muscle.
“He has shot out of the ground since then, so I don’t think the issue was the Melbourne way of going.”