After making a promising start to his Australian career, former French galloper Don Diego De Vega failed to set the world on fire during his most recent campaign.
However, co-trainer Rob Archibald is predicting a different scenario this time round as the five-year-old prepares to resume in the Listed Lord Mayors Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Archibald is the first to admit they were disappointed in the horse’s brace of unplaced efforts over the summer but believe he may have been feeling the effects of the firm tracks.
They have been much happier with him this time around and of the stable’s five runners in Saturday’s feature, Archibald regards him as the horse with the most upside.
“He has probably got the most x-factor of all our runners,” Archibald said.
“He is a quirky horse, but he’s got a stack of ability. We were a little bit frustrated last prep that we didn’t get a bit more out of him, but we put it down to the ground and sometimes the Europeans just take that little bit of time to find their feet.
“But there is no excuse from our point of view. He is going into Saturday in good order.”
Stablemate Shahzad ($14) is also given an each-way chance after posting a confidence-boosting win on a heavy track at the Gold Coast last start.
He does drop 200m in distance and Archibald says that is his main reservation ahead of Saturday.
“We brought him back down here with a view to the mile-and-a-half race in two weeks’ time so he is probably looking for that little bit further now,” he said.
“It’s a good race and he’s slightly out of the handicap but we feel like he is a horse on the up.”
Sir Chartwell, Mormona and Double Cherry round out the Archibalds’ Lord Mayors Cup team with the bulk of them on a collision course towards the Winter Cup (2400m) at Rosehill on June 14.
