There is an old-fashioned toughness about Tulloch Lodge miler Cross Talk; he is typical of the horses that have delivered 14 Epsom winners for Randwick’s most famous stable.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have the class runner in Randwick Guineas winner Converge in Saturday’s Epsom – which is a $26 chance given the wet weather – but Cross Talk is now $8, and punters are warming to it.
Cross Talk romps home at Randwick in July, and punters are warming to the miler to deliver again on Saturday.Credit:Getty
Bott might still be looking for his first win in the group 1 spring mile in partnership with Waterhouse, but there is an admiration for Cross Talk, which looks to have beaten the handicapper, getting into Saturday’s race with 51 kilograms.
“You would have never thought of this race when he started this campaign,” Bott said. “He is just so tough and has just stood up and taken everything we have thrown at him.
“We got him into the race and, amazingly, he still looks like he’s at the top of his game.”
Cross Talk has been in the stable since April and actually had his first barrier trial a week after the Doncaster. He won a couple of benchmark races in May and July, before a strong front-running display in the Winter Challenge made it a hat-trick of wins.
After that victory, the trainers’ first thoughts were how would they get him to the Epsom.
“He is the sort of horse that can make his own luck and every time he has taken a step up, he has been too strong,” Bott said. “I just like his toughness and that comes through in everything he does: attitude and racing.
“It makes you confident going into a race like this one.
“The small field really helps him and I think he gets the lead, which is what he likes. He has got no weight and handles the wet.”
Cross Talk was third in the Rowley Mile before showing the toughness Bott loves when taken on for the first half of the Bill Ritchie Stakes, which was run at super-fast tempo. He hung on for third behind Top Ranked, beaten only two lengths.
Cross Talk could be Bott and Waterhouse’s only Epsom runner because they would favour saving Converge for next week’s Silver Eagle.
“We just know he doesn’t handle the heavy ground, so we would think about scratching with a view to giving him the best preparation for the Golden Eagle,” Bott said. “It would be a waste running him on the heavy, but we would need to freshen him up to run at the 1300m.”
Bott will saddle runners in each of three group 1s on Saturday and can’t wait to see Furious Stakes winner North Star Lass at the mile.
“She is another filly that keeps getting better,” Bott said. “I have always thought the mile would be where we see the best of her and her work suggests she will be strong at the end of it.”
Colin Stephen Stakes winner Grove Ferry and Sacramento make up Tulloch Lodge’s staying ranks.
“Grove Ferry earned his place in the race last week and he will not know himself with only 51 kilograms,” Bott said. “Since he has come to Australia he has been carrying big weight and don’t be surprised if he does sprint hard at the end.”
