Victoria Derby day at Flemington could be career-defining for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young who will have at least three chances in the Classic at Flemington.
Busuttin won the 2011 Group One Victoria Derby with Sangster and the co-trainers then snared the 2016 Australian Derby in Sydney with Tavago.
Both those wins came while the New Zealanders were still training at home.
Last year they relocated to Victoria to train out of Cranbourne and have had many winners in the 15 months since.
But a Group One win has so far eluded them and Saturday’s $1.5 million feature race could put them well and truly on the map.
“We’re going well but we probably need to top it off with a Group One,” Busuttin said.
“We’ve been thereabouts throughout the spring in good races. In the Spring Champion Stakes, Sully was unlucky (third).
“It’s important to get that Group One on the board.”
Main Stage and Sully are at single figure odds for Saturday’s Derby while stablemate Johhny Vinko is at $26.
The stable also has Derby emergency Beachwood, while Busuttin and Young saddle up Wassergeist in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
Busuttin said it was great for the stable to get a number of Derby chances.
“It doesn’t mean a lot if one of them doesn’t win or run well, but it’s great for the owners and great for the stable with the exposure it has given us,” he said.
“They’re certainly not there to make up the numbers. We think each individual horse has got a genuine chance.
“Beachwood is 100/1 but the other three I think have genuine chances.”
Main Stage was impressive winning the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m) at Flemington two starts ago, coming from well back, but then slightly disappointed when third in the Caulfield Classic (2000m).
A group from 2017 premiership-winning AFL club Richmond, including Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin, own a share in Main Stage.
Busuttin and Young have embraced the publicity surrounding the high-profile owners and the Derby contender.
“Again, the exposure for the stable, it’s unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s obviously good to have the boys on board. We’ve sort of jumped on the train and hopefully their luck can rub off on us.”
Busuttin said Sully needed a few days to get over the trip to Sydney for the Spring Champion Stakes and they decided he didn’t need another race before the Derby.
“Honestly I can’t split Sully and Main Stage,” Busuttin said.
“They’ve both drawn terribly. They’re going to need a bit of luck but we’ve got two of the big guns in the business on (Hugh Bowman and Michael Walker) and if they get a bit of luck they’ll be right there.”
He also believes Johnny Vinko will run a better race than last start when 11th in the Geelong Classic after running third to Main Stage.
