A fortnight ago, the expatriate Kiwi horseman produced Anaheim to finish fourth
and concedes his colt needs to lift to be a realistic winning chance in
Saturday's $A2 million Gr.1 Australian Derby at Randwick."There's no question that Gingernuts is a good horse and we might need a bit of luck to beat him," said Busuttin, who trains out of Cranbourne with his partner Natalie Young
"We are very happy with Anaheim and he will be 100 per cent for this race. I'm sure he will run well, but it won't be easy to bridge the gap. A good barrier and a drier track would be a help.
"Anaheim would probably get away with a slow track, but the better the track, the better his chances."
A son of Fastnet Rock, Anaheim has strong New Zealand ties and was bought at Karaka for $160,000 by Busuttin for a number of Kiwi owners, including Tommy Heptinstall, Kevin O'Brien and Dave Kneebone, who were also part-owners of the triple Group One winner Sangster.
Anaheim, who had three trials in New Zealand as a two-year-old, broke his maiden over 2040m at Benalla in the spring, six days before the Gr.1 Victoria Derby.
Busuttin paid up for the Flemington classic, but the horse was on the ballot and did not get a start.
He showed that he might not have been out of his depth in the Derby by winning an 1800m Listed event on Oaks day.
He was then spelled and has produced three good runs in his current preparation. He finished third over 1400m at Sandown fresh-up, fifth in the Gr.1 Australian Guineas and fourth in the Rosehill Guineas.
Hugh Bowman rode Anaheim last time out and takes the mount again. – NZ Racing Desk.
