The mighty Godolphin racing empire will launch a two state two year old attack on Saturday with first starters Ottoman and Bosnia.
Top Melbourne jockey Craig Williams, above, will be aboard the John O’Shea trained Bosnia at Flemington. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
The John O’Shea trained Ottoman has been installed the early $2 favourite with Ladborkes.com.au for the $85,000 TAB Place Multi 2yo Plate (1100m) at Rosehill.
While stablemate Bosnia is also the number one pick at $3 for the $80,000 Christmas Season 2yo Plate (1000m) at Flemington.
Assistant trainer Darren Beadman said the stable has a large number of two year olds coming through the ranks and hey like to keep them separated if they can.
“We’ve got so many of them and we’ve got another 25 or 26 trialling next week,” Beadman told AAP.
“With the Magic Millions and Inglis races, it restricts what we can run them in.”
Beadman said that Ottoman has plenty of ability and rates the Exceed And Excel filly among the top percentage of the Godolphin youngsters.
“She’s among our top 15 or 20 two-year-olds so far,” Beadman said.
“She still has a long way to go but everything she’s done to date suggests she’s a real progressive type.
“She’s very athletic and she seems to take everything in her stride – everything John has done with her she has accepted well.”
Ottoman has won her only public appearance with a comfortable victory in a 740m Warwick Farm barrier trial on December 9 and will face the starter for the first time with a crossover noseband on with premiership winning jockey James McDonald to ride.
Top Melbourne jockey Craig Williams has taken the ride on Bosnia who will be facing a field of first starters at Flemington.
Like Ottoman, Bosnia has won a 740m Warwick Farm barrier trial on the same day and O’Shea’s racing manager Jason Walsh said that the Medaglia D’Oro colt has shown plenty of ability on the tracks as well.
“The speed he’s shown at home and his impressive trial win defies what he looks like physically – he’s a massive, big two-year-old,” Walsh told Racing Network.
“But he is a very athletic and he has a lot of speed. We’ll learn a lot more at the races on Saturday, but he looks a nice colt for us going forward.
“He worked very strongly on Tuesday morning with an older horse and he’s being showing enough at home to say he’s a nice horse.”
Walsh said the stable believes that Bosnia will develop into a Stakes horse and depending what he does on Saturday will decide if he continues on a path towards the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 28.
“We think he’s showing nice Stakes promise, albeit unraced, but we think the Blue Diamond trip might be short of what’s ideal for him.”
