Owner Carl Holt knows the burn of missing out on a desired race all too well – last year it was Zaaki in the Cox Plate, this year Lost And Running in The Everest – and now he hoping for a consolation prize in the Nature Strip Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
Holt immediately remembered the hurt of Zaaki when the call came about Lost And Running being scratched from The Everest on race morning.
Lost And Running [widest] wins the Premiere Stakes and will out to reproduce that form inthe Nature strip Stakes on Saturday.Credit:Getty
“Zaaki missed the Cox Plate because of a small problem and then he came out two weeks later and won the Mackinnon Stakes,” Holt said. “I’m not going to say Everest day was easy but we still had hope, and that’s all you can hope for in racing.
“You have to remember there can be only one winner in any race and there are a lot more losers.
“We knew it wasn’t a major problem with Lost And Running. It probably makes it a bit worse because it was so frustrating, but he gets his chance to do a Zaaki on Saturday.”
Lost And Running has been made a $2.70 favourite for the Nature Strip Stakes despite missing the run and the placegetters from The Everest – Private Eye and Mazu – backing up and the Sydney Stakes winner, Rocketing By, being in the field.
The prize for winning the Nature Strip Stakes will be worth more than The Everest first prize for Lost And Running’s owners because he would also take the Sydney Sprint Series bonus to net more than $4.2 million from victory on Saturday.
There is confidence around the John O’Shea team, who have put behind them a couple of disappointments during the spring.
“He had to have a couple of easy days because of the [infected] fetlock, but it was only an irritation to him more than anything,” O’Shea said. “It cleared up quickly once we could treat it.
“He was certainly in the best form of his career, and we just gave him a barrier trial to make sure he was up to the mark.
“He ran second in this race [to Eduardo] last year, and he is a better horse now.”
Lost And Running had done everything right leading into The Everest. He was the strongest late in The Shorts to run third, before sitting wide and making an early run when he won the Premiere Stakes.
That had him considered the main danger in The Everest until misfortune struck.
“You have to move on,” O’Shea said. “It’s not a bad consolation prize on Saturday, if he can win.”
O’Shea will have OTI import Athabascan making his Australian debut in the Rosehill Gold Cup. Athabascan has only one win in eight starts but brings a series of listed placings over extended trips.
“He has the right form coming out of Europe and actually caught our eye when we were trying to buy something in one of his races,” O’Shea said.
“He has settled in very well and worked very well at Canterbury on the other morning. It will be interesting to see where he fits in over here.”
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