Gingernuts Draws Wide - In Great Fettle

www.stuff.co.nz reports:

The field has been declared and starting positions allocated for the A$2 million Group I Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday.

A field of 13 will line-up in the blue-riband race and all the big guns are in the field, minus Rising Red which was ruled out last week.

New Zealand Derby and Rosehill Guineas winner Gingernuts is likely to start the favourite despite drawing wide at barrier 12 while New Zealand Derby third placegetter Jon Snow has drawn gate nine.

New Zealand co-owned Anaheim to be ridden by Hugh Bowman for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young has drawn the inside gate.

Co-trainer Jamie Richards can't find any fault with Gingernuts ahead of his third Group I challenge.

With two down and one to go, the New Zealand Derby and Rosehill Guineas winner will be at the top of his game.

"Everything has gone according to plan and the horse is super," Richards said.

"He did a little bit of work on Saturday morning and this morning he worked over 1200 metres on the course proper at Randwick with one of Gai Waterhouse's horses.

"It gave him a good look around and he did all that was expected of him. He's not a big, strapping colt who needs a lot of work - he's more of an athletic type."

Gingernuts was dominant in the New Zealand Derby on good ground at Ellerslie before he coasted away with the Rosehill Guineas on heavy footing.

"The track on Saturday isn't going to worry us at all," said Richards, who trains the son of Iffraaj with Stephen Autridge.

"They might think he goes better on soft ground here, but he can go on anything."

The Randwick track had improved from a Heavy 8 on Monday into the soft range by Tuesday morning, but showers are predicted in the area on Thursday.  Richards is more than familiar with Gingernuts' Derby rivals and he remains bullish about their three-year-old's prospects of another Group One trophy.

"I thought Jon Snow was quite impressive last Saturday and he looks like he has improved and Prized Icon also ran very well and he will go in a very fit horse," Richards said.

"But our horse has been racing very well all the way through against good opposition and I couldn't be any happier with him."

Gingernuts, who will face 12 rivals on Saturday, is booked on a Monday flight home to New Zealand.

"He'll need a break and we'd like to set him for Melbourne in the spring," Richards said.

Trent Busuttin is more hopeful than confident of turning the Rosehill Guineas form around.

A fortnight ago, the expatriate Kiwi horseman produced Anaheim to finish fourth and concedes his colt needs to lift to be a realistic winning chance.

"There's no question that Gingernuts is a good horse and we might need a bit of luck to beat him," he said.