Melbourne Cup: Surprise Baby has only one race in mind next year and trainer Paul says he can will it

Horsham trainer Paul Preusker saw enough from Surprise Baby in this year’s Melbourne Cup to give him confidence he can come back next year and win Australia’s iconic race.

Staying star Surprise Baby is close to returning to work, and trainer Paul Preusker has tunnel vision for only one race — the 2020 Melbourne Cup.

Surprise Baby rocketed home in last month’s Cup to ­finish fifth, beaten less than a length by Vow And Declare.

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Preusker said the run indicate the gelding was capable of winning a Melbourne Cup.

He said he was considering not starting Surprise Baby until next spring, giving him only a handful of runs before the 2020 Cup.

The Horsham trainer said the mid-race dawdle in this year’s Cup had brought about Surprise Baby’s loss.

“Everyone did a good job. He was unlucky,’’ Preusker said.

“It was just the slow sectionals mid-race which undid him.

“Once that happened, it was always going to be hard.

Horsham trainer Paul Preusker with Surprise Baby before finishing fifth in this year’s race.

“There’s a lot of woulda coulda shoulda, but there’s no point in doing that.

“They didn’t run quickly, and it might have been different if he’d drawn a barrier.

“I think if he’d drawn better, he’d have been the horse to beat.

“What we can take out of it is that he can win a Melbourne Cup. We’ll have another crack at it. If everything worked out, we know we can win it.”

Surprise Baby is equal favourite at $18 with TAB for the Cup, along with Vow And ­Declare and this year’s third, Il Paradiso.

Preusker said Surprise Baby would return to work soon, but he wasn’t looking at any race in the near future and the gelding might not have a run this preparation.

“He’s not far off coming back into work. Halfway through the preparation I’ll see what he can do and take it from there,” Preusker said.

“I’ll bring him up and get him fit. I might even tip him out without having a race.”

Surprise Baby wins the Lexus Bart Cummings at Flemington.

LAING WORKS ON LICENCE

Robbie Laing is confident he has put in place the right mechanisms to regain his trainer’s licence.

“I’m hoping that when the Racing Victoria board meet on December 17, they will approve my return to training,” Laing said.

The trainer’s licence expired at the end of November after Racing Victoria decided he couldn’t meet certain financial commitments.

Tony Logan has been given permission to train his horses on an interim basis from Laing’s Cranbourne stables.

Laing said he had a fruitful meeting with Cranbourne Turf Club boss Neil Bainbridge on Friday.

“There was a discrepancy on fees on course. Going forward things will be better on my behalf,” Laing said.

“There were misunderstandings and they were all at my end. I made mistakes. I thought because I leased the stables, they had to pay for any improvements.

“That’s wrong. It’s my responsibility. We’ll spend some money on the stables and bring them up to the standard they want.”

Laing said he had kept RV stewards up to date on his financial situation.

MONDAY RACEBOOK

QUEEN TO TAKE DECENT BREAK

Champion mare Arcadia Queen has returned to Western Australia but don’t expect to see her in action for some time yet. She returned to her owner Bob Peters’ property at Keysbrook on Thursday and he said she was thrilled to get out in a paddock. Peters said Arcadia Queen had had hoof problems and needed a decent rest. “She hasn’t been in a paddock like that for ages and she’s charging around it. She’s had problems with the soles of her feet.” He said he didn’t expect her to race at the upcoming Sydney or Melbourne autumn carnivals.

LLOYD FIRM ON POTENTIAL BUYER

Lloyd Williams said there has been great interest from potential buyers in Macedon Lodge but he intends to be picky as to who can purchase it. “I love the property and therefore I will only be selling to someone who will continue the tradition of training Group 1 winners from the property.” Williams is also selling a number of his stayers. Williams didn’t comment as to who will train his Victorian-based team.

SPEEDSTER CATCHES EYE IN WEST

Perth racing may have unearthed another top sprinter in the form of four-year-old mare This’ll Testya, who made two wins from two starts with a six-and-three-quarter lengths win at Ascot over 1200m. One Eastern states commentator took to twitter and suggested she’d be a chance in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes. Her trainer Adam Durrant believes she’s the best horse he’s had but said she’s still got a long way to go. He said her early speed gave him goose bumps. “She is very quick. She hasn’t got good wheels so we’ve got to look after them but she is something pretty special.”

HERE’S THE AVENUE TO SUCCESS

Avenue Of Pleasure didn’t win her debut at The Valley on Friday night but he could be a player in the feature races. She ran her last 200m in 11.48 seconds which was the third fastest for the night. Stewards noted she was slow to begin and was also held up for a run from the 300m to the 150m mark.

RACING APPLIES THE HANDBRAKE

The quietest week in racing for ages. Next Saturday at Flemington the VRC will experiment with a Saturday twilight program with the meeting starting at 3pm and finishing at 8pm. Tuesday racing will be at Ararat. On Wednesday there is Terang and Sandown Hillside twilight. Thursday races are at Echuca. On Friday there’s a triple header with racing at The Valley (night), Geelong and Moe.

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Originally published as Melbourne Cup: Surprise Baby has only one race in mind next year and trainer Paul says he can will it