It’s a plan that almost came off the first time and on Saturday, jockey Darryl McLellan and trainer John Ramsey will be hoping their strategy can pay even greater dividends the second time around.
In 2019, McLellan and Ramsey teamed up with Never Listen, who bolted up in a 2200-metre race at Scone in late October, then travelled to Melbourne and ran second in the VRC Oaks behind Miami Bound at $41.
Fast forward to four years later and the pair will combine again at Flemington on Saturday, this time in the Victoria Derby with outside chance Warialda Warrior, who is backing up after also winning a 2200-metre event at Scone in comfortable fashion.
“She was just a little bit more mature, more forward,” McLellan said when comparing the pair.
“I’ve got no doubt this horse will stay alright, which, when it comes to Derby distances, if they stay, it’s a big difference, it’s a big help for sure.”
Warialda Warrior is one of 10 horses trained by Ramsey at Scone and McLellan revealed that the young trainer had earmarked the son of Saxon Warrior as a potential Derby candidate from a long way out.
“He conditions them really well,” McLellan said of Ramsey.
“He can identify them quickly, he told me this horse all along it’d stay and he’d run it in the Derby, so he was right.
“It’s his first preparation and we would’ve liked him to have been a bit more mature, but it is what it is and the horse will turn up there and be fit, ready to go and will run the trip out.”
McLellan has ridden close to 1700 winners in a career that in his own words has ‘had its ups and downs’.
Two of those wins have come at the highest level; in the 1995 Galaxy aboard Magic Of Money and then again in the 2002 Sydney Cup on Henderson Bay.
The Newcastle-based rider will be using that big-race experience to his advantage on Saturday, when he and Warialda Warrior will jump from barrier nine in front of a huge crowd from the 2500-metre start at Flemington.
“It’s a different mindset, big racing,” McLellan said.
“It really focuses you and gets you set for a really good showing. I’ve got a different mindset when it comes to that.”
Warialda Warrior is at $151 in Sportsbet’s market for the Victoria Derby.
– racing.com
