Garry Lunn will trek to Forbes on Sunday with ‘the horse to beat’ in the $50,000 Bankstown Sports Club Forbes Cup (1600m).
Champion country jockey Mathew Cahill has been booked for the ride, and the Dubbo trainer was confident of his seven-year-old’s chances.
“We’ve got Matty booked, he’s only going to carry 56.5kg, and I’ve got him fully wound up; his coat is glowing, and there’s not a problem with him, touch wood,” Lunn said.
“I’m going there confident that he’ll be hard to beat.”
A five-time winner, Knife’s Edge has been a different horse in Lunn’s care, winning three times in nine starts, including a Newcastle Highway Handicap victory before his thrilling win in the 2022 Coonabarabran Cup.
Knife’s Edge will run into a few handy types, with the field to be headlined by the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Kangaroo Court (Jean Van Overmeire), which has already been backed in from $2.70 to $2.20.
Knife’s Edged opened $15 and is into $10, and Lunn believes his charge is way over the odds.
“It’s one of those Big Dance qualifying races, meaning all the city trainers come to the country and try and win these races,” Lunn said.
“Gai (Waterhouse) has never had a runner at Forbes before, and it’s just that the Big Dance is a big lure, and they don’t put any others (horses) in any of the other races, but we’re not worried.
“Our fella, he’ll be hard enough to beat, and he came up $15 on Sportsbet, and I’ve had a couple of hundred each way.
“He looks a million dollars, his work has been good, and I wouldn’t swap him for any horse in that race.”
It can be a testing mile at Forbes, and Lunn believes a few horses could be found wanting.
“Forbes can be a bit hard, and you want a horse that can run 1800m to 2000m, and that’s his sort of go,” Lunn said.
“You’ve got to be tough to win that race.”
Having already qualified for the Big Dance or Little Dance following his Coonabarabran Cup win, Knife’s Edge will tackle the Forbes Cup in a lead-up to the rich feature at Royal Randwick on the first Tuesday in November.
“The horse is going good, and in two weeks’ time, we’ll go to the Narromine Cup and then give him a little blow for a while,” Lunn said.
“That way, we can bring him back in time for a couple of runs into the Little Dance.”
It’s not just the Forbes Cup set to headline a big meeting on Sunday, with the Ben Hall Bullet attracting a small but quality field in the 1200m Open Handicap.
The eight-race Showcase program jumps at noon, and for fields, click here.
For more on the race day, click here.
