The sun is not yet up over Kembla Grange but Cuban Royale, with his mate Brock Ryan in the saddle, is the first horse to make his way onto the South Coast track.
It is a routine that the nine-year-old gelding loves. On Saturday, he will contest the $1 million The Gong on his home track in the prime of his career at an age when many of his contemporaries have retired.
Brock Ryan launches Cuban Royale at the line to win the Carrington Stakes at Randwick in January. Credit: Getty
“If you saw him in the mornings you would think he is a three-year-old, the way he bounces around,” Ryan said. “He always wants to be first out and is waiting for me when I walk into the stable.
“It’s probably why he is having his best year at nine. He is not the best horse that I have ridden but he gives you everything, and you have to love that. He loves being in the stable and loves doing his work. That makes him a dream to ride.”
The Robert and Luke Price-trained Cuban Royale has supplied the 29-year-old jockey with more wins than any other horse. They have combined 22 times for five victories, but a win in The Gong would be their biggest yet and give Ryan his second in the feature race.
“He has actually been in the stable for longer than I have been here,” Ryan said. “He was here when I arrived, and we have grown up together. It would be special to win this race with him.
“When I won The Gong on Count De Rupee two years ago, there was real pressure because we thought he would win. I had to get it right.
“This is a different pressure because I want him to win, but there are better horses in the race than him.”
Cuban Royale is a $51 outsider for The Gong but has scored five of his ten wins at Kembla, where he hasn’t raced since a benchmark 78 at this meeting 12 months ago. Since that day, he has been to the races 13 times for another two wins, including the Carrington Stakes in January, and has been competitive in group races.
“When he won here last year, I thought that might be it for him, but he has lifted to another level,” Ryan said. “He won the Carrington and has just got better and better.
“He has been racing against this class of horse all spring and has been really competitive. We get the home track advantage, and he is so honest he could do it.”
The biggest stables in the country dominate the top of the betting for The Gong. The Chris Waller-trained Osipenko is the $3 favourite and will race in blinkers for the first time. The four-year-old had a minor setback and missed the Golden Eagle, but Waller has kept him in work and James McDonald delayed his Hong Kong contract to take the ride.
Unlucky Five Diamonds runners Detonator Jack, from the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace yard, and another Waller runner, Waterford, are $6 and $7.50 respectively, while the spring’s form miler and topweight, the Matt Dunn-trainer Cepheus, is a $9 chance after winning the Alan Brown Stakes and finished second in the Big Dance.
