AFL Premiership winning coach Denis Pagan says he is living the dream as a racehorse trainer.
In his first season of training, Pagan won the Victoria Derby with Johnny Get Angry who will progress his claims towards a Melbourne Cup start in the Group 1 TAB Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Pagan said his ambition when he started out as a trainer was to have a runner at Flemington and to win last year’s Derby came as a surprise.
But with his eyes on having a starter in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 2, that is another matter.
But Pagan is not getting too far ahead of himself and realises the task ahead, even though Johnny Get Angry is fully qualified for the Cup.
“Johnny Get Angry is a beautiful horse,” Pagan told the TAB Spring Racing Launch.
“He’s pretty much push button. We galloped him this morning, we put blinkers on him, and he did the job for us.
“I realise he’s going to be a “gazillion-to-one” to win the Cup, but I’ve never seen anyone make runs sitting in the grandstand.
“He’s running on Saturday in the Turnbull Stakes, and he’ll be an outsider again.
“I just hope he can improve on his last run and put his best foot forward, give us some confidence because I know he’s not going to get to his best until he gets over 2400, 2600 (metres) and let’s hope he can stay the distance of 3200.
“He’s qualified, we might have a live chance and touch wood nothing happens to him.
“I suspect he might not be as good as some as the superstars, but outsiders have won before, so you’ve just got to roll with the punches.”
Johnny Get Angry is one of 80 horses that remains in contention for the Melbourne Cup after second declarations were taken on Tuesday.
Last year’s winner Twilight Payment is still in the hunt and is in quarantine in Ireland ahead of travelling to Melbourne next week.
Noticeable absentees from the declarations were equal topweight, the Johnny Murtagh-trained Sonnyboyliston, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Master Of Reality, stablemate of Twilight Payment, along with 2019 Cup winner Vow And Declare who has had his spring campaign haled with a slight tendon injury.
