Trent Busuttin always planned to let Craig let him know if he should run in Saturday’s Silver Bowl Final at Flemington, but that stopped the trainer asking a few leading questions.
Busuttin and his co-trainer Natalie Young have looked hard for signs to suggest the import might be coming to the end of his preparation.
But a slick piece of work on Tuesday morning assured his place in the $150,000 event over 1600 metres.
“We were in two minds, not that he’d given us any reason to, but we were just mindful that, for an import, he’s done it all on one prep and hasn’t had a huge gap between runs,” Busuttin said.
“I’ve been looking for him to tell me he wants the paddock but he hasn’t.
“He’s thriving, he looks like he’s got a summer coat, and he galloped on Tuesday and worked up brilliantly, so I’m very happy with him.”
Craig atoned for a luckless second placing at Flemington on June 8 when he won at the same track on June 22, while his only other start in Australia resulted in a brilliant Bendigo maiden win on May 22.
A three-year-old son of Territories, Craig came to Australia with just one run on his form card; a third placing in a two-year-old maiden at Newmarket last November.
The Australian performances have identified Craig as a horse who might be worthy of being directed at Black Type races in spring and Busuttin said his appearance at Flemington this weekend was designed to help him get there.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we think he’s spring quality,” Busuttin said.
“He’s only rated 73 and if he can win on Saturday, you’re a little bit closer to getting into a nice race if he continues on the right way.”
Luke Currie has been aboard for Craig’s three Australian runs, but he is not riding at Flemington this Saturday, leaving John Allen take the ride from barrier six in the field of nine aboard the $1.85 favourite.
