Although Glen Boss will be having his first ride on Surprise Baby in the Zipping Classic, he got a good look at the horse during the Melbourne Cup.
Boss will replace Craig Williams on Surprise Baby in Saturday’s feature and believes he will prove too good for his rivals at Sandown.
In the Melbourne Cup, Boss rode Sir Dragonet and he positioned him behind Surprise Baby in the early stages and was able to get a close-up view of what happened to the $6 favourite in the run.
Although Sir Dragonet finished sixth and Surprise Baby finished 13th, Boss said they were in the same vicinity for most of the race.
“It was a forgive run for Surprise Baby. There was definitely nothing wrong with Craig’s ride,” Boss said.
He said Surprise Baby found trouble near the winning post the first time, which caused him to lose his rhythm.
“He got dealt with really badly and was bent out of shape. Then Craig had an issue settling him for quite a long time,” Boss said.
“When running races at a brutal tempo you’ve got to be in rhythm and in a beautiful space and you can’t afford for anything to go wrong.
“It wasn’t shown visually. When you’re following you realise what goes on.”
Boss has spoken to Surprise Baby’s trainer Paul Preusker, who told him the horse had pulled up well from his Cup run.
Boss plans to ride Surprise Baby as if he is the best horse in Saturday’s race, which the jockey believes he is.
“He’s got an electric turn of speed. I’ll ride him quietly and use his turn of speed,” Boss said.
“Unfortunately a lot went wrong last start and he’ll bounce back.”
Surprise Baby was a $4.20 favourite with TAB fixed odds on Tuesday.
Market 💰: View the Odds for the Zipping Classic
The Sydney-based Boss said he would stay riding in Melbourne until November 23 and return when the border with New South Wales re-opened.
