There isn’t a sport in the world quite like racing that can make you look like a genius one day and a mug the next.
Depending on the day, the week or the month, Clinton McDonald has been both and the Cranbourne trainer has spent his waking hours this week pondering which he’ll be come the middle of Saturday afternoon.
McDonald hasn’t been shy about his opinion of boom colt Rosberg, who debuts as the $5 second favourite with Bet365 in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) at The Valley.
It’s an opinion he formed while preparing the colt for last year’s Inglis Ready2Race Sale in Sydney and one that saw him part with $750,000 to fend off international interest in the ring to ensure the colt remained with him to race.
McDonald and bloodstock agent Shane Wright team up all the time on horses to trade, but the Rosberg sale is the first time McDonald has bought one back in this manner.
“Shane (Wright, bloodstock agent) bought him as a yearling to go through the ready to run sale and we tried him before he went through the ring,” McDonald said. “At the end of the day, they are there for anyone to buy and there was strong Hong Kong interest in him so I had to buy him back at that price ($750,000). The market determined what we had to buy him at and, as things stand, I’m glad I did.”
Finding owners for a $750,000 purchase isn’t the easiest thing to do, but McDonald said he’s been fortunate to find support from a string of regular clients.
Even Ben Melham’s dad bought a share in the horse his son has been pivotal in educating.
Ben Melham was aboard the Deep Field colt when he turned heads with a 10-length jump out win at Cranbourne last month but, due to an untimely suspension, has handed the reins over to his wife Jamie Melham for Saturday’s first-up run.
McDonald has no doubts Rosberg can win at The Valley on Saturday and he’s already talking about stallion-making races like the Golden Rose and Coolmore Stud Stakes for the hulking three-year-old.
“He can win,” he said. “He’s a very good colt and he’s a horse that we’ve thought for a long time could be up in the top bracket. We get to rip the band-aid off on Saturday and see if we’re geniuses or mugs.”
“He’s going to need to be good to win first-up in a Listed race at The Valley, but we’re not hiding from that, we know what he has to do.
“All the indicators that we get here are that he is a pretty good colt and if he’s the horse that we think he is, he should be able to get the job done.”
