Good Oil has continued to impress Andrew Forsman this season and the Cambridge trainer will give the eye-catching frontrunner his first Australian test in Saturday’s Listed Mornington Cup (2400m).
The son of Dalghar took time to develop, only breaking his maiden early as a four-year-old, but a season later he has rapidly stepped through the grades over middle-distance trips with 11 top-four finishes in his 13 starts this term.
In his familiar pace-making role, Good Oil almost caused an upset in both the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m) and Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m), leading until the dying stages of the latter only to be surpassed by two-mile specialist Mahrajaan, while holding off subsequent Listed Roy Higgins (2600m) winner Mark Twain.
Forsman was thrilled with his performance, which warranted a trip across the Tasman for Saturday’s feature.
“He’s great and has thrived since he arrived in Australia, he’s taken to it really well, which is good, with the quick turnaround to get him over there and running on Saturday,” Forsman said.
Forsman has engaged Billy Egan to partner his charge, who drew the ace barrier and carries an equal-bottom weight of 54kg in the handicap.
“Having drawn barrier one is great for him, he’ll ping and put himself on pace,” Forsman said.
“I know there’s another strong frontrunning horse in Deny Knowledge and she may take the lead from him, but as long as he’s in the leading group, he’ll be happy.
“The only niggling doubt in the back of my mind is the long gap between races for him, but apart from that, I couldn’t be happier with him going into it.”
Good Oil will be one of two Kiwi horses making their bid for the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) golden ticket available in the Mornington Cup, alongside Nereus, and Forsman is treating any further success as a bonus for the consistent gelding.
“Right from day one, we were just trying to get him to switch on and win a race, and now he’s doing what he’s doing,” Forsman said.
“Whatever he does is a bonus in my eyes, he’s a neat horse to have around and any race we line him up in, he turns up and tries hard every time.”
Forsman will also be represented in the Mornington Guineas (1600m) by Riproar, a son of Charm Spirit that has raced out of his Victorian stable through the season.
Riproar was an impressive last-start winner at Geelong and will be partnered by Harry Coffey in the three-year-old event.
“He was competitive enough against three-year-olds in the spring, but it’s always different getting into the autumn,” Forsman said.
“He won very well first-up, albeit against lesser opposition than he strikes on Saturday. We’re confident that he’s as well as he can be heading into it, but now he’s just got to prove he’s up to this level.”
Puccini four-year-old Full Of Sincerity completes Forsman’s Mornington team, contesting the Benchmark 84 Handicap (1600m) later on the card.