The sleeping giant among Sydney’s training ranks since ending his tenure with Godolphin, John O’Shea is again a force to be reckoned with after closing out the autumn carnival with a treble of Randwick winners.
O’Shea captured Saturday’s J H B Carr Stakes with All Hallows’ Eve and added further victories with talented mare Rocha Clock and up-and-coming sprinter Lost And Running, while Intrepidacious scored at Caulfield for good measure.
O’Shea was forced to rebuild from the ground up after splitting with Godolphin in 2017 but with a maturing team starting to hit their straps, the future is looking bright.
Lost And Running underlined his star promise when he trounced a good field in the final race at Randwick and O’Shea believes he has all the hallmarks of a top-class sprinter.
The four-year-old is likely to have one more start in the Scone carnival’s Listed Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill next month before O’Shea becomes more ambitious.
“We’ve got the utmost belief in this horse and every time we’ve asked a question of him, he’s delivered,” O’Shea said.
“I’m a great believer in history. Trekking won it (Luskin Star) and went on to be a good horse and I think this horse is a serious weight-for-age horse.
“I think if he were to win at Scone, or now Rosehill, then he would legitimately be a contender for the major sprint races in the spring.”
Rocha Clock’s Randwick victory was somewhat of a bonus with O’Shea’s major targets for the mare still ahead.
She will head to The Coast, a new $500,000 race at Gosford in two weeks, ahead of a winter preparation in Brisbane with her major goal the Queensland Sapphire Stakes.
