SWAN Hill jockey Harry Coffey rode three-year-old New Zealand colt Mr Maestro to Victoria Derby favouritism at the weekend, but will now have to make way for Damian Lane in the $2 million classic in two weeks.
Lane has already won twice on the boom runner this spring but passed up the ride at Caulfield on Saturday for Jacquinot in The Everest in Sydney.
Mr Maestro firmed into $2.60 for the 2500m distance classic on October 29 following his third win on the trot in Melbourne, although he had eased to $3 by Monday morning.
Coffey’s win in the $200,000 Group 3 Ned’s Classic was a victory that had left trainer Andrew Forsman “a little bit nervous as the race had not panned out as we would have liked”.
The rider would later agree he “was in two minds early in the race when the gates opened and there was an opportunity to go”.
Forsman says Coffey probably had to “get on his bike” a furlong earlier than they would have really wanted “but it worked out in the end”.
He concedes he was glad to see Coffey crank it up between the 600m and 500m mark because the last thing they needed “was to try and be too cute at that stage of the race”.
Forsman was part of the Lion Tamer trans-Tasman team 12 years ago when his and Murray Baker’s stallion won the Victoria Derby by more than six lengths.
He rates Mr Maestro as “very similar” and says the best thing about him is “he keeps improving”.
Forsman said Coffey got away to a good start and would have been immediately faced with the tough call of pressing ahead and going early, or taking a back seat and waiting.
“He did go back, but by the halfway mark we reckon he had sensed they weren’t going quickly enough, and so he started to put the horse into the race early,” Forsman said.
“One out and one back, right on top of the speed, might suit Mr Maestro better, but he still got the job done on Saturday.
“He’s tactically versatile, can go forward and back in the wet or the dry, he’s hard to knock.”
A delighted Coffey agreed the race didn’t go anywhere near the right running according to script, but added “in the really good movies it always turns out well in the end”.
Coffey described Mr Maestro as “a pretty good horse that is trending the right way, and is lovely to ride”.
“We did get ourselves into a bit of a tricky spot at one stage, but when you are on the best horse you can afford to cover ground and make moves, which he did.
“While it wasn’t pretty at the end, he got the job done and he will improve again off the back of that.”
Coffey still has the ride on Skyphios, the horse he guided into the Derby with a golden ticket from the Byerley Handicap a few weeks ago, giving him another shot at adding a second Group 1 race to his resume.
