Former hurdler Vauban proved surprisingly sharp in his first-up win and that has only fuelled his stable’s confidence as he prepares for a much more suitable assignment at Rosehill.
The former European had never raced over a distance less than 2200m but showed another string to his bow when charging late to take out the Sky High Stakes (2000m) for new trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
On Saturday, he steps up to 2400m in the $1.5 million Tancred Stakes and Bott says that’s not the only factor in Vauban’s favour.
“He’s going to be better suited up to 2400 metres and it’s a bigger field than what we saw in the Sky High Stakes, so you’d naturally expect pressure in that sort of set-up,” Bott said.
“There is also potential rain on the day.
“There are a lot of things that would seem a positive for him going into the race.”
Rosehill was a soft 5 on Thursday but the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted between 15mm and 60mm of rain on race day.
That shouldn’t worry Vauban, who has six wins and four placings from 12 starts on wet tracks and will relish a genuine staying test, albeit the race has attracted a top line-up headed by globetrotting stayer Dubai Honour and 2023 Tancred Stakes winner Arapaho.
“There is nowhere to hide on Saturday,” Bott said.
“He’s done really well in between runs and seems fantastic within himself. Hopefully there is some nice improvement to come.”
The stable’s Rosehill contingent also includes beautifully bred three-year-old Format in the Tulloch Stakes (2000m).
By Frankel out of Group 1 winner Nechita, the colt scored a thumping 4-1/2 length win at Kembla Grange last start, although he does drop 400m in distance.
“That is probably the difficult thing for him, coming back to the 2000 metres on Saturday,” Bott said.
“That’s going to be the only query, but he is obviously on a Derby path.”
Nine horses have claimed the Tulloch Stakes-Australian Derby double in the past four decades with Quick Thinker in 2020 the most recent.
