Leading Brisbane jockey James Orman has been working behind the scenes with Rothfire and he can’t wait to have his first race ride on the brilliant sprinter at Eagle Farm.
The high-class four-year-old resumes in Saturday’s Group 2 Victory Stakes (1200m) against a smart field that includes last year’s Stradbroke Handicap runner-up Vega One and NSW raiders Count De Rupee and Jamaea.
Orman partnered the Robert Heathcote-trained gelding to a recent trial win at Doomben and has been pleased with his progress.
“He trialled well. He gave me a really good feel,” Orman said.
“I have been doing his trackwork as well, so I am starting to get to know the horse quite well.
“It’s my first day on him on a race day so I’m really excited.”
Rothfire has been restricted to just two starts in the past 18 months after suffering a serious leg injury as an odds-on favourite in the 2020 Golden Rose.
He was nursed back to health by Heathcote and returned in the spring with a slashing fourth to Eduardo in The Shorts.
It earned him an Everest slot but he didn’t make it to the $15 million sprint after again being struck down by injury, this time a minor joint flexion issue suffered during his unplaced run behind Masked Crusader in the Premiere Stakes.
Unbeaten at Eagle Farm and dynamic first-up, Rothfire is a clear-cut $2.40 TAB fixed odds favourite to make a winning return as he heads towards a possible Stradbroke Handicap tilt.
The only negative is an awkward draw in barrier 11 of 12 but the gelding is expected to have the natural gate speed to negate it.
“He’s a fast horse and there’s not a lot of speed. I’d say he will get across quite well,” Orman said.
“I’m pretty confident with him. He goes well first up and he finds quite a winnable race for him so it’s a nice kick-off point.”
Rothfire forms part of a strong feature-race book for Orman, who also partners stablemate Release The Beans in the Listed Treasury Brisbane 3YO Quality Hcp (1300m), Brereton for Peter Moody in the Listed Dalrello Stakes (1100m) and Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) favourite Character for James Cummings.
