By Adam Hamilton
NEXT stop Victoria for My Field Marshal.
Trainer Tim Butt declared his stable star right on target for the Victoria Cup after a narrow, but impressive Menangle win last Saturday night.
My Field Marshal’s next and only other lead-up run will be in the $50,000 Group 2 Smoken Up Sprint (1720m) at Melton on October 6.
The rescheduled $200,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup is eight days later at the same track.
“He’s right where I want him,” Butt said. “We’ve had to drive him outside of his comfort zone in these two recent Menangle races because he’s been the best horse in the race and drawn the outside.
“The problem with sitting parked with him is that he’s a bugger for wanting to loaf when he hits the front.
“He did that when Little Rascal nabbed him two starts back and wanted to do it again the other night, but lifted enough to hold them off. He’s got more left that it looks, but he’s a better chaser than leader.”
Despite doing all the work, My Field Marshal hit the lead early in the straight and held-off Allblack Stride to win by a neck in a slick 1min51.9sec mile.
Butt, who announced last week he was setting-up a Menangle stable and spending much of his time in NSW, will first head to Melbourne on Tuesday week.
“I’ll be down in Melbourne for five weeks. Let It Ride, who is a serious horse, is coming across to join My Field Marshal down there,” Butt said.
“The 4&5YO Championship (November 11, at Melton) is the main goal with him down there.”
Butt said it was a busy, but exciting time for the stable.
“It’s great to be going into partnership with Jonny Cox back home and to be getting serious about a team at Menangle,” he said.
“I’m really excited about the Menangle team and committed to making a splash with a nice bunch of horses.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
