Surprise Baby will attempt to give Gavin Bedggood his maiden Group 1 win when he runs in the Australian Cup at Flemington.
Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood is too busy to let nerves get in the way of a potential Group 1 win with Surprise Baby.
But that may change on Saturday morning as the Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington draws closer.
To date Bedggood has only had one runner in a Group 1 race – No Effort, which finished last in the Caulfield Stakes (2000m) last October.
Bedggood has had Surprise Baby for two starts and is looking forward to seeing him run on Saturday.
A former member of the Paul Preusker yard, Surprise Baby was run off his feet over 1400m at his first run for Bedggood last November before finishing fourth to Earlswood in the Group 3 Carlyon Cup (1600m) at Caulfield on February 12.
“I think he’s come on from his run at Caulfield and I couldn’t have been happier leaving the track that day,” Bedggood told RSN.
“And back to a bigger track like Flemington, up to the 2000 metres, I think he’ll be improved for sure.
“He had a solid gallop on Tuesday morning, and I expected him to be a little bit quiet afterwards, but he was as bright as a button when he came off the track and he was marching around, on his toes and that had no ill-effects on him.
“He’s ready to go.”
Bedggood does not subscribe to the theory the Australian Cup is lacking for quality and said running in the top four would be like a win.
“You have Cascadian who was able to run third first-up at 1400 metres, Spanish Mission was a fantastic run the other day and Think It Over brings tremendous form from New South Wales,” Bedggood said.
“If he can be running around those sorts of horses, I think he’s back to his best.
“I can’t wait for Saturday to roll around.”
