There will be a fair bit of interest when the Allan McRae-trained Saddle The Sun steps out in the $34,000 TAB Federal (1000m) at Canberra on Friday.
The rising 10-year-old is only lightly raced, starting 14 times for four wins and three placings, but after registering his wins in Victoria, he hasn’t been seen at the races since January 2020.
“He was a good horse early, and his form shows it, but he had a few injuries,” McRae explained.
The Helmet gelding out of Sleeque had the world at his feet as a youngster, and in the David and Ben Hayes, and Tom Dabernig yard, Saddle The Sun won his first three starts at Ballarat (1200m), Cranbourne (1200m), and Bendigo (1300m) in late 2017.
Unfortunately, injury curtailed his career, and he spent 79 weeks off the scene before returning to racing with the Matt Cumani yard.
He eventually won over 2015m at Seymour in late 2019 before finishing second in town, with a good run over 2000m at Flemington.
Injured reared its ugly head again, with the old stager now 174 weeks between runs, but that’s where McRae came into the story, with the Yass trainer playing a pivotal role in his recovery from injury before taking over training duties late last year.
“After his first injury, the owners chose to move him onto to (Matt) Cumani, who was setting up at Ballarat at the time, and he saw a stayer in him and stretched him out over further and got a win over 2000m,” McRae said.
“The owners then sent him to Queensland for the Country Cups, but that all went pear-shaped up there, and he suffered a tendon injury.
“We are friends with the owners (Adrian and Margaret Harvey of Katandra Agriculture), and he came here for some rehab work before he went back to Hay, where he is from, and then he spent a year and a half in the paddock recovering.
“They were in two minds about bringing him back in, and they wanted to make sure he was right, but he had a younger brother that needed to come in (to work), and they said, ‘You better have a look at the older brother because he is looking well’.
McRae took every precaution with Saddle The Sun, ensuring he was thoroughly sound before returning him to work.
“He had some corrective work done on his feet, and our vet John Crowley manually went over his leg, then went over it with an ultrasound,” McRae said.
“We’ve kept a close eye on it, and he’s had a bit of pool work to help keep the weight of his leg.”
Despite his age and time away from racing, Saddle The Sun trialled nicely at Canberra over 900m late last month.
Ridden by Molly Bourke, he stepped away slowly from gate six but quickly made up ground and finished second when beaten only 0.14 of a length by the Nick Olive-trained Ready To Humble.
McRae was pleased with the effort, and with four-kilogram claiming apprentice Emma Ly in the saddle, the Yass galloper will start from gate 10 in the five-furlong sprint at Canberra on Friday.
“We’ve been taking things pretty steady; he’s been in work since after Christmas, and after the trial at Canberra, he was due for another run or trial, and with it being a 1000m race at Canberra, we chose to have a run,” McRae said.
“His trial was enormous, and he trialled up against some sharp horses, and the weather played in our favour, as we wanted to keep him on top of the ground.
“There’s no rain around this week, and hopefully, the surface is good, and we can give him a good hit-out before stepping him up to his pet distance.”
McRae was a little bullish when discussing Saddle The Sun and his chances going forward, hinting that if he stays sound, he’ll soon be back in the winner’s circle.
“I want to get him to between 1200m and a mile,” McRae said.
“We’ll keep a bit of freshness in his legs, try to keep him happy, and not overtrain and work him.
“He’s got a beautiful, long stride, and he’ll make a nice middle-distance horse if everything goes well, but we’ll just get him back up and running and try and go through the grades.
“Injuries are always in the back of your mind, but he is sound, and we’ll get him through this run and set him up for a good run next start.”
The 1000m TAB Federal will headline the eight-race Canberra program, and for full fields, click here.
