Cantonese has been a wonderful advertisement for the skills of Bjorn Baker, yet the gelding still remains somewhat of a mystery to his trainer.
He was already five runs into his campaign when he came to Baker’s stable last spring.
He went on to have another 10 starts, winning six of them before being spelled after a midfield finish in the Perth Cup.
This preparation, Baker has been able to start with a clean slate but that brings challenges of its own.
After resuming with an unplaced run on a heavy track at Randwick last month, Cantonese will take his place in the Listed Scone Cup (1600m) on Friday.
His second-up record reads well – two starts for a win and second – but as it is the first time Baker has trained the gelding from the start of a campaign he is loathe to buy into performances on paper alone.
“I’ve never had him second-up before so I can’t really comment on that,” Baker said.
What Baker is certain of is that Cantonese didn’t appreciate the rain-affected track at Randwick.
He has subsequently won a barrier trial and while 1600m is at the bottom of his distance range, Baker can find a few factors in his favour.
“He was totally unsuited by the conditions the other day. He’s not a wet tracker,” Baker said.
“Back to a good surface, he’s drawn four, there looks to be a bit of speed in the race and he’s at his best when he can sit off them.”
There are two early scratchings from the Scone Cup with Chris Waller withdrawing Beaten Up in preference for Doomben on Saturday while Merlin Mustang has also come out.
Waller will still have three runners in Firebolt, Illo and Say No More.
A two-time Group One winner in New Zealand, Say No More has struggled to reproduce that form in her two Sydney starts but she does have a gun draw in barrier three.
Firebolt heads to Scone off the back of a first-up eighth in the Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) when he closed strongly while Illo will be ridden more conservatively after racing handy and tiring in the Wagga Cup.
“We rode him upside down in the Wagga Cup so we’ll ride him dead quiet on Friday which will actually suit him from his wide draw,” Waller said.
