The debut victory of Daggers at Sandown had the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young stable on a high which they hope will carry over at Moonee Valley.
Busuttin and Young have lightly raced former Irish galloper Alder lining up for the stable in the Travis Harrison Cup (2040m) on Saturday.
Alder made an impressive start to his Australian career finishing fifth in a benchmark 84 race at Caulfield on July 13 over 1700m.
Busuttin said the gelding was not at home on wet ground and expects a better track at Moonee Valley on Saturday, combined with a weight drop of 6kg and a rise to 2040m, to be advantageous.
“He’s a genuine mile-and-a-half horse,” Busuttin said.
“He went very good first-up on a wet track and he’s a dead-set dry tracker.
“He drew a wide gate, and we went all the way back and he came to them at the top of the straight and then his wheels were spinning on the wet track, so he’ll appreciate the firmer track at The Valley.
“This looks a nice race, especially being down on the 53kg minimum.”
Alder has been sparingly raced, winning twice in his six start to date.
He scored his maiden win over a mile in Ireland at his second race start before chasing home Auguste Rodin in a Group 2 two-year-old contest at Leopardstown.
Auguste Rodin is an Epsom Derby winner and scored in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and is entered in both the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 19 and the Cox Plate (2040m) the following week at Moonee Valley for which he shares the fourth line of betting in both races.
Alder is one of 11 horses Busuttin and Young have entered in the Caulfield Cup and is currently a $101 chance for that race after nominations closed earlier in the week.
“We’ve entered him in the Caulfield Cup and hopefully that is where we end up,” Busuttin said.
Michael Dee, fresh off a treble at Sandown on Wednesday, has the ride on Saturday.