Trent Busuttin believes emerging galloper Craig only has to replicate his last-start run and he should get the chocolates at Flemington this weekend.
The Busuttin/Young stable will saddle up the talented three-year-old in the Rod Johnson Handicap at headquarters on Saturday and he’ll start a very short-priced favourite.
The import was a moral beaten at Flemington last start, getting out late to only miss Rise At Dawn by a lip when he was well supported.
Ahead of Craig’s third run in Australia, Busuttin is confident he’ll give a good account of himself, stopping short of declaring his horse as he knows the pitfalls of racing all too well.
“We hope so,” he said on SENTrack’s Giddy Up when asked if the stable has a good one on their hands.
“He’s going to be carrying the weight of all the punters on Saturday.
“He’ll probably be the most talked about horse of the meeting so I hope he comes out and replicates that run the other day.
“It will be interesting. He’s having his third run in a short space of time, that’s my only query on him, but he’s not telling us that he’s not coping with it. He’s thriving.
“My guess is if he brings the same sort of performance to that race on Saturday then you’d think he’s going to win, but it’s never that easy.”
Craig is currently rated a $1.50 chance with Sportsbet for Race 3 which jumps at 1pm AEST on Saturday.
Another in the Busuttin stable who runs at Flemington is debutant Whateley, named after esteemed SEN broadcaster Gerard Whateley.
He’ll front up for his first official race in the opening event after running top three in all five of his jump-outs.
While Busuttin does have high hopes for Whateley, he does concede that the two-year-old son of Written Tycoon will be better later on.
“He goes alright, he’s a nice horse,” Busuttin said of Whateley.
“I do like him, he’ll make the grade. He’s a very laidback colt to be fair. He’s still pretty dumb and raw.
“He’s got the ability, he’s got an engine. In all his jump-outs, although he’s won one or run second, I’m picking the form watchers wouldn’t say he’s impressive.
“He’s ranged up to wins jump-outs and doesn’t know how to let down. There’s no doubt there’s going to be some in the race that have been there, done that, and they’ve been racing in good Saturday races. They’re going to have a lot more ring craft and be a lot more switched on.
“But it’s just a good opportunity to kick him off at a good Flemington on a beautiful, big track. I don’t think Saturday will necessarily be his day but as long as he just runs well and has a good experience I think there’ll be more to come for sure.”
Whateley is rated at $26 with Sportsbet in Race 1, the Ken Cox Handicap, which jumps at 11:50am AEST.
Among the owners of Whateley is SENTrack regular John O’Neill.
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