The decision to test Bear On The Loose over a genuine staying journey last start almost paid dividends and with that experience under his belt, the horse is expected to be hard to get past in the Caloundra Cup at the Sunshine Coast.
The Tulloch Lodge gelding had done the bulk of his racing over middle distances before trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott opted to step him up to 2400m in the Winter Cup last month.
Bear On The Loose made the running and kicked strongly, holding all bar stablemate Sir Lucan at bay.
He has been kept to that journey for Saturday’s Caloundra Cup and Bott is hoping his charge can go one better.
“For his first attempt at the trip, his run was excellent,” Bott said.
“There were questions over whether he could get the trip and I think he relishes it. He ran it out very strongly.
“He was there for a long way and it took a horse who’d had a better run in transit and had the sit on him to run him down. He was unlucky to get beaten.”
There were the options of the McKell Cup (2000m) and Stayer’s Cup (2400m) in Sydney last weekend but Bott felt Bear On The Loose would respond better to a three-week gap between runs and the horse will instead head north for Saturday’s Listed feature.
Tulloch Lodge will also be represented in the Group 3 Winx Guineas (1600m) by The Three Hundred with the stable warning punters he is capable of sharp improvement on his last start effort at Ipswich when he finished midfield behind Saturday’s rival Mister Bianco.
“He missed the start and got too far back. The tight track, he didn’t really appreciate, and from where he was it was always going to be difficult,” Bott said.
“But the last furlong of his race was pretty good.
“The 1600 will suit. Hopefully he breaks cleanly, puts himself in the race and he will be much more effective.”
If the stable can plunder one of the black type features at the Sunshine Coast it will continue a great season for them at that level.
Waterhouse and Bott have set a stable record for most number of stakes win in a term and while the latter is humble about their success, it is a worthy achievement.
“If we’re trying to find areas to focus on to improve each season, stakes wins is what we all strive for so I guess that’s a good indicator for us and we’ll try to keep topping it again next year,” Bott said.
