Trainer Anthony Cummings has an obvious benchmark horse as he assesses the prospects of Drago in one of the longest two-year-old races of the Australian season at Rosehill on Saturday.
Cummings will run Drago in the Juvenile Stayer, an 1800m race which last year helped shape the early part of stablemate Fiveandahalfstar’s career.
Fiveandahalfstar ran third to Honorious in 2012, a result that probably seemed insignificant until the no-nonense stayer landed the Victoria Derby-BMW double this season.
Drago takes on five rivals on Saturday, bringing a superior formline into the race than Fiveandahalfstar did.
His career started in a Golden Slipper qualifying race at Group Two level and he gave Cummings enough insight into his potential to be given his chance in the Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes.
Drago didn’t disappoint with his fourth placings in both Group Ones, running on strongly each time after settling rearward.
“He’s probably more of a good horse at this stage of his life than Fiveandahalfstar was at the same stage,” Cummings said.
“But Fiveandahalfstar improved quite a lot from one preparation to another and also from the start of a preparation to the end of a preparation.”
Drago has been beaten for pace in his races so far but Cummings says it is unfair to call the colt one-dimensional.
“There’s been a few things against him like wide barriers, fast early speeds and not always being clean out of the gates,” Cummings said.
“He’s just had his L-plates on and he’s just working himself out.”
At a meeting where most races are wide-open betting affairs, Drago stands out on the bookmakers’ boards as a $1.50 favourite in pre-post markets.
He holds a decisive call over the Group Three placegetter Ideal Guide ($4) with Artistic Lass, trying give David Payne successive wins in the race, an $8.50 chance.
