Ken Keys has seen enough high-quality horses in his career to know when a young one has something special, and he believes Alibaba fits that mould.
The colt steps out for his debut in Saturday’s Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield for the Ken and Kasey Keys stable.
Keys doesn’t often get precocious two-year-olds, though his first real standout was Saloon Rule—winner of the 1988 Merson Cooper and later favourite in the Blue Diamond, where she bombed the start.
Alibaba, he says, is right up alongside the best youngsters he has handled.
“Not that we’ve had many, but of the ones we’ve had, he’s right up there,” Keys said.
“Once you’ve had one good two-year-old, you know what is required. We’ve had a lot that aren’t her (Saloon Rule), but he’s up there.
“He’s pretty natural, and I don’t want to build him up too far, but when you see him, you’ll go ‘wow’, he’s one of those horses.”
Alibaba won a Cranbourne jump-out in September, had a short break, then returned to win his Caulfield Heath trial last week.
Keys said he again contemplated spelling the colt after the trial, before thinking better of it.
“Originally, I was planning on putting him out after the trial, but I went and sat in the tractor for the rest of the afternoon, and I had too much time to think,” Keys said.
“The Merson Cooper has produced nice horses for a long time, I don’t know why, and I’m hoping, the good ones up until now, will be enjoying their spring break.”
The race has produced high-class winners including Palm Angel, Little Brose, Anamoe, Hanseatic, Long Leaf, Thurlow, Marveen and Freestyle.
Keys also wants to see better behaviour from Alibaba in the mounting yard after some wayward antics last week.
“He did a few things wrong in the mounting yard the other day, he was a bit naughty, so who knows what his manners are going to be like, but on the track, he was good,” Keys said.
“It’s good when you think what you’ve got, and Craig gives you a similar report.”
Alibaba wasn’t entered for February’s Blue Diamond Stakes, but the stable did secure a nomination for the Golden Slipper.
“I didn’t enter him in the Diamond, as you don’t know back in June, but he’s in the Golden Slipper, so who knows,” Keys said.
“That’s part of the dream.”
If you’re backing a runner in the Merson Cooper Stakes, be sure to check the best odds available at the top Australian betting sites.