The Victoria Derby served as the launchpad for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young’s Australian racing careers, but the 2500-metre Group 1 race has delivered only heartbreak since their 2011 victory with Sangster.
The Cranbourne-based training partners experienced a near miss last year, securing second place in the Flemington Classic with the outsider Arcora. This followed a third placing from Sunsets the year before, and another second from Sully in 2017.
A crucial commonality among these three horses is the reason Young is as keenly anticipating Wednesday’s barrier draw as the race itself.
Sully drew gate 14, Arcora drew 11, and Sunsets started from the outermost position in a field of 16. In the same year, Busuttin and Young also had Kosgei, who finished fourth, starting from barrier 12.
“We’ve always had a couple of runners in the Derby, it’s not easy to do with three-year-olds at this time of year, but you just need a bit of luck,” Young said.
“We’ve run second with horses that have had really wide barrier draws and all those little things come into play when you’re tackling Group Ones.”
Busuttin and Young have nominated three of the 24 three-year-olds for the Derby, including Gilgeous, who finished fourth in last Saturday’s Moonee Valley Vase, alongside Cignetti and Icy You.
Cignetti and Icy You are both heading into the Derby after third placings in close finishes. Cignetti, a gelding by Super Seth, ran in the Group 3 Caulfield Classic (2000m), while Icy You, a son of Pinatubo, finished third in the Listed Geelong Classic (2200m).
Young noted that they each possess different qualities that make them worthy Derby contenders.
“They’ve gone a couple of different paths, but they do actually work together, and I think Cignetti has that little bit better turn of foot, whereas Icy You is more an out-and-out stayer,” Young said.
“Each race Cignetti just tightens up that little bit. He’s quite a big, gross sort of a horse but looking at him on Saturday morning I was thinking he’s really got nice and fit and he’s going to be spot on for the 2500.
“Icy You had to do a little bit of work on the corner (at Geelong) and I thought he was pretty tough to stick on. He’ll love the trip, he needs 2500, and he’s tightened up nicely too.”
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