John O’Shea is at a stage of his life and career where he has come to accept the highs and lows of racing.
While he was bitterly disappointed when Lost And Running had to be scratched from the $15 million The Everest on race morning, he took it on the chin, even finding positives in the subsequent victory of the Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick.
“We took the disappointment early in the week and lamenting about what may or may not have been will only depress you, so we just moved on,” O’Shea said.
“But I’ve got to say, I thought the race got the best story out of the result with the young kid winning it.
“From my point of view, there are always positives to come out of everything. It would have been nice for us to have won, we would have been rapt, but it wouldn’t have been as good of a story.”
A minor lameness issue ruled Lost And Running out of The Everest but he recovered quickly and was kept up to the mark with a barrier trial last week.
O’Shea is happy with his health and fitness and says a victory in Saturday’s $3 million Nature Strip Stakes (1300m), for which Lost And Running is favourite, would be a handy consolation prize.
“It would be deserving for the horse,” he said.
“He is improving and we’re really happy with him.
“We’ve got him as good as we can get him off a setback.”
O’Shea will also have a presence in the Rosehill Gold Cup (2000) with recent French Import Athabascan.
A dual acceptor, the horse was scratched from a benchmark race in preference for the $750,000 assignment and with the gate speed to go forward from an outside draw, O’Shea is keen to see how he measures up.
“He has settled in unbelievably well,” O’Shea said.
“He is well weighted and he’s got lovely form.
“He is an interesting horse, a beautiful staying horse.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing him run, he worked very well on Tuesday.”
A lightly raced four-year-old, Athabascan has made eight appearances in France for a 2000m victory in May and a trifecta of stakes placings over middle and staying distances at his past three starts.