Imported galloper Durston is set to kick off his campaign at Flemington that his trainers hope will lead to a start in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace -trained son of Sea The Moon is topweight in the VRC Member Justin Hoy Trophy (2000m) on Saturday.
Durston has not raced since eighth over 2400m at the Royal Ascot meeting in June last year.
Eustace said Durston arrived in Australia with a minor tendon injury requiring the gelding to undergo the stable’s rehabilitation program.
After a steady build-up Durston is ready to resume with Eustace describing the gelding as a “proper stayer”.
“He’s a nice horse but I haven’t really seen a gear yet, but I think when he hits top gear, he’s going to stay all day,” Eustace said.
“He looked quite progressive at home and he’s been with us a while.
“He came over with a slight tendon injury so we put him through our rehabilitation and the leg has been 100 per cent the whole way through.
“He’s got a lot of potential.”
With a rating of 82, Durston is running in a Benchmark 78 race on Saturday and has been tasked with carrying 62kg which will be offset with the 3kg for apprentice Josh Richards.
Eustace said it was a nice race to kick off in, but for Durston to be considered a potential Cups campaigner he will need to be winning races to get into those races.
“He’ll stay two miles, but its whether he’s got the gears will be the interesting thing,” Eustace said.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get a bit of speed into him.
“This will be a very different year with not as many internationals coming out for the Cups, and it’s a year that you have to be taking your chance.”
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au