Talented New Zealand three-year-old Bobby Dee will be looking for a consolation win in Australia when he runs at Randwick after missing the ballot in the Queensland Debry and Brisbane cup,
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Bobby Dee will take on older rivals in Saturday’s Schweppes Handicap (2000m).
“He travelled down to Sydney last week and settled in well to Bjorn (Baker’s) stable and his plans will depend on how he goes on Saturday,” Forsman told NZ Racing Desk.
“If he is competitive, then we would have to look at other options because there is good stake money to be won over there and I guess we will have to reassess and talk to the owners as to what they want to do.”
Bobby Dee has a Group Two placing in the Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie before a win over older horses at Te Rapa early last month.
He missed a start in the Group One Queensland Derby when he could only manage to finish eighth in the Group Three Grand Prix Stakes at Eagle Farm on May 25.
“His run in the Grand Prix was pretty disappointing. He just sort of plugged away without doing much at all,” Forsman said.
“The rain-affected track on Saturday will certainly bring him into it and although the month between runs isn’t ideal, he does seem fit and he worked up to the mark on Tuesday by all accounts. So, all we can do is line him up and place him in a race that looks pretty suitable.
“I think 2000 metres on a heavy track at this point in his preparation is ideal. He is not the sort of horse that needs a lot of racing and often his best races have been on the fresh side, so he will certainly get his chance and he is well.”
James Innes Jr will ride Bobby Dee and Forsman said he would not be surprised to see him ridden more positively than in the Grand Prix.
“He can race up on the pace and I think the way they ride Randwick these days when it is going to be wet, they all seem to skirt off the inside pretty quickly, but I think they over-play it a bit,” he said.
“If he is down on the inner and can cut the corner and angle out down the middle in the straight, I think that would be ideal.”