Farooq’s Geelong Classic effort was the performance Tony McEvoy wanted to see to be convinced the colt might be a Victoria Derby hope and Tuesday’s barrier draw only enhanced his confidence levels.
The son of Frankel came up with barrier two for the 2500-metre Group 1, which will become the inside alley if first emergency Alessandro does not gain a start.
McEvoy was pleased to see him draw the opposite of the track to what he drew at Geelong, when he started from 15 of 16 but was still able to finish a narrow second to Home Ground, which was the performance the trainer needed to see to press on.
“He stepped up at Geelong, which we wanted him to,” McEvoy said. “He didn’t have much galloping room at The Valley in the Stutt, then I took him to the UCI (Stakes) and he just ended up too far back and had horses laying on him.
“He’s a huge, big horse and he just needs to get him into a gallop, and Kerrin (McEvoy, jockey) was able to do that at Geelong – albeit he had to do a fair bit of work from his wide gate – but he really stayed it out strong.
“That gave us confidence enough to go the Derby. He’s very fit, very well – I’ve got no horse doing better in my stable than him – and I’m excited to have a Frankel colt in the Derby.”
Farooq’s ability to box on at Geelong after doing some early work also laid to rest some initial fears McEvoy had about whether Farooq would stay.
Although by Frankel, he is out of the former Steve Richards-trained speedster Rostova, who was one of the most precocious of her two-year-old generation and went on to win the G1 Sangster Stakes (1200m).
“I was concerned about the gene pool when I ran him in the Geelong Derby Trial, because he’s out of that mare Rostova and she won a Group 1 at 1200, but she’s a Testa Rossa mare and it appears like the Frankel has come over the top and he’s going to get his staying powers from him,” McEvoy said.
Farooq is a $15 chance in Derby market, which is headed by the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Thinkin’ Big, who held firm at $3 after drawing barrier nine.
– racing.com
