Jockey Mark Zahra finds himself in contention for a second Caulfield Guineas victory following a trip to Sydney in late August for a trial with The Next Episode.
The Randwick trials on August 28 saw Zahra aboard Call Me Coach in a 1045m heat, where the Dundeel colt secured fourth place.
Call Me Coach is set to make only his third career start in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) this Saturday, having previously won at Hawkesbury and then in benchmark grade at Cranbourne.
Despite being the least experienced of the 11 runners on Saturday, the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained colt possesses enough latent ability for Zahra to believe he is a Group 1 winner in the making.
“I went up to trial The Next Episode and they asked me to do him,” Zahra stated. “I liked him in his trial and said, ‘let me know when he comes down to Melbourne’.”
“He was huge in the last bit at Hawkesbury (on debut) and I think that’s him, still getting it together during the race, but he’s got a powerful turn of foot, a powerful finish, if he gets it right.”
Zahra travelled to Cranbourne on AFL Grand Final Eve, guiding Call Me Coach to a one-and-a-half-length triumph over three rivals, and later partnered the colt in a gallop at Caulfield on Tuesday.
While acknowledging the challenge of winning on Saturday, the jockey is confident in the horse’s underlying potential.
“We’ve got pretty high hopes for his ability. He’s shown quite a lot,” Zahra commented. “This race comes around a bit quick, but they’re only three once and the race is coming up this week.”
“What he lacks for in experience, he makes up for it with ability, and we’ll need things to go right, but he’s good enough if things pan out.”
Interestingly, Zahra’s previous Guineas win was on Super Seth, a horse who raced in the same colours that Call Me Coach will sport on Saturday.
Both colts share Dundeel as their sire, and Zahra noted similarities between the two.
However, Super Seth had more racing experience when he contested the Guineas, ultimately defeating Alligator Blood in the closing stages.
“He’s got a bit of catching up to do and no doubt we’ll see the best of him in the autumn, but hopefully we can nick one away this week,” Zahra remarked. “I think he will be a Group 1 horse and in time I think he will want even further than a mile.”
“I’ve got no problem with speed in the race, that will help, but it will be managing him around these bends the best we can, so he’s got something to finish with.”
With the Caulfield Guineas shaping up to be a thrilling contest, punters are already looking at the available racing odds at Australian betting sites.