The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable is looking forward to the Australian debut of lightly-raced import Normandy Bridge.
The French-bred son of Le Havre runs in the Group 3 T S Carlyon Cup (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday under John Allen following a brief career in France.
Normandy Bridge was a two-time winner from six starts in Europe and ran second in Group 1 company as a two-year-old and has not raced since finishing down the track in the Group 1 Prix Du Jockey Club (2100m) at Chantilly last June.
Eustace said Normandy Bridge may be smart after his victory in a Cranbourne jump-out last month.
“We’ve been taken by him from the time he arrived,” Eustace told RSN.
“He’s a very good-looking horse. He’s tall, he’s scopey, a dark horse with plenty of white on his face.
“He’s got a beautiful action. You won’t see a better mover and we’re really looking forward to seeing him kicking off.”
Eustace said European horses can take time to settle in and take a run, or two, or even a preparation to acclimatise to Australian racing, but he said Normandy Bridge had taken to his new home and new training conditions as good as any of the horses that have gone through their system.
“For a colt, he’ll get on his toes, but we don’t envisage him being silly,” Eustace said.
“We’re confident that he can essentially get to the top level here and we’d be disappointed if we don’t see a good run.
“Johnny has ridden him most of the way through and he’s got a lot of confidence in the horse, and he should be right in the finish, if he handles the occasion.”
Eustace said the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 12 may be an early target with the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) in May a possibility if Normandy Road requires racing.