Sergeant Major has a Listed win on his resume, but Ciaron Maher’s assistant trainer, Johann Gerard-Dubord, is adamant we haven’t seen the best of him yet.
Gerard-Dubord is the first to concede the four-year-old has been a shade underwhelming since triumphing in the South Pacific Classic (1400m) last autumn, but he is also one of the horse’s biggest fans.
“If he finally puts it all together, he’s got a lot of ability. We haven’t seen the best of him yet,” Gerard-Dubord said.
Along with his Sydney autumn carnival victory, Sergeant Major twice placed in stakes company at three before racing below expectations in four runs last spring.
The stable opted to give him an extended break after he finished midfield at Eagle Farm in November, but while that trip wasn’t a success on the track, Gerard-Dubord believed it had done him the world of good.
“In his work, he looks like he could be anything, but he has been a bit disappointing at the races, even though he is a Listed winner,” he said.
“Last prep, we felt he wasn’t going as well as he could and he’s a gelding, so he is always going to keep improving. We stopped, reset and came back at this time of year.
“The trip to Queensland seems to have done the job, like it did with Gringotts and Jimmysstar.
“He has changed physically and mentally. He has done really well.”
Gerard-Dubord compares Sergeant Major to Gringotts, who really hit his straps as a five-year-old and has claimed the past two renewals of The Big Dance (1600m).
Similarly, he believes Sergeant Major could measure up to that type of race in time.
“He has always shown a lot of ability, and I have always compared him to Gringotts,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“He could be a Big Dance horse at some stage. We’ll play it by ear. But he is back at a good time, and there are good races in Queensland at the back-end of the carnival if he’s going well enough.”
Sergeant Major has had early specking, firming from $16 into $11, and will carry 57kg after the three-kilo claim of apprentice Mollie Fitzgerald.
