An unconventional build up has added further lustre to the dominant debut win of The Big Sky after the two-year-old son of Bivouac made a stunning first-up impression at Flemington on Saturday.
The Cranbourne-training team of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr had been replenishing their stocks at the Magic Millions Sales on the Gold Coast in the build-up, while a broken leg to jockey Mark Zahra – who rode The Big Sky in the lead up – took away the only remaining sensory experience with the horse.
Zahra was replaced by Jordan Childs on Saturday, while the staff of Price and Kent Jnr quite literally took the reins in preparing The Big Sky for his initial career assignment.
The result was an impressive display; The Big Sky jumping brilliantly from the outside barrier before settling on pace and exploding away from the field late over the 1000-metre journey.
Price Jnr, who returned to Flemington for the race, was full of praise for both jockey and his doting staff at Cranbourne.
“Jordy (Childs) is an absolute horseman, so he was a natural choice,” Kent Jnr said of his late booking.
“Mark (Zahra) rode the horse Monday morning and he behaved beautifully; sat off, tractable, wasn’t tossing his head, but it’s his first start down the straight, so it’s a big effort.
“Very nicely done by the horse, the team at home have done a great job.
“Full credit to them because Mick and I have been away for 10 days; so, to come back and walk into a nice winner is really good.”
Kent Jnr said The Big Sky, despite still being raw, had matured since his first ever look down the straight.
“He actually came here for a trial and he went from the outside fence to the inside fence in two strides; he really baulked and had a look around,” he said.
“Since then, his physical improvement especially; he’s quite an impressive horse…his stallion Bivouac is doing great things, they get better at three, so he’s an exciting horse.
“I’m not sure what path we’ll take, but naturally the Blue Diamond is an obvious race.”
Kent Jnr said Childs played his role to perfection.
“It worked out pretty well really, as you saw he did a lot wrong in the first part of the race, but I thought Jordy rode him perfectly,” he said.
“The plan was to ride the horse first, the race second, keep it smooth; he got across relatively easily, the horse has good natural speed.
“I suppose the impressive part was the way he travelled deep into the race and the acceleration was instant when he went for him and really ran right past the line.”
Childs was equally impressed with the performance; justifying the high praise that Price and Kent Jnr had pre-race.
He also paid his respects to Zahra, who broke his leg after a barrier incident at Sandown trials on Wednesday.
“I have to send a cheerio to Zahra, obviously it’s not the way you wan to pick up rides, but hopefully he has a quick recovery and he’ll be back before we know it,” Childs began.
“The horse jumped out very impressively, the team gave a nice push for him, thought he was a very nice horse going forward; he’s still quite green and raw but he did really well today to get that result.
“He jumped out the barriers nicely and I rolled forward; he doesn’t pull hard but you have to grab hold of him and bring him back that little bit.
“He just wants to put his head up, so for the first 300 metres I was trying to work on him, bring his head under.
“Once he did. I was able to get close to the horse that was leading the race and he actually relaxed nicely for me.
“Travelled, and when I pressed the button, he was really straight and quick…I think he’s a horse that’s going to keep improving and he gives me a nice feel.”
