Trainer Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are looking to avoid another trip to Sydney with their charge Bustling, instead favouring a Melbourne-centric racing campaign.
The gelding Bustling is scheduled to compete in the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield this Saturday, his fourth start this season, with the aim of breaking a winless streak stretching back to May 2024.
While Bustling has only had four starts in that period, the horse was initially acquired with aspirations of competing in The Everest.
However, Bustling has proven ineffective in two starts in Sydney.
His initial Sydney run saw Bustling finish second-last in the Group 2 Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill, preceding a 20-month absence from racing. His most recent Sydney appearance resulted in a seventh-place finish at Randwick on June 20.
Prior to these Sydney runs, Bustling had achieved consecutive placings at Caulfield: a first-up effort over 1000m on May 9, followed by a second in the Listed Bel Esprit Stakes (1100m) on May 30.
Kent Jnr expressed dissatisfaction with Bustling’s last start performance.
“We had him in at Flemington down the straight and in Sydney that day,” Kent Jnr said.
“I was a bit cautious on Sydney because he had failed there once before, but I thought that was in the past.
“Horses change states all the time, so I had to find out.
“Talking to both track managers, the surface at Randwick was going to be much better and as it worked out, he didn’t fire a shot in Sydney which was in stark contrast to how he had been progressing in Melbourne where he felt like we were building to a win.
“He ran a first-up third, we didn’t think he could win over 1000 (metres) with a big weight, but he progressed nicely, ran second in the Bel Esprit, a Listed race, and went to Sydney looking for better ground, but hated that way of going.
“He layed-in up the straight badly and he came out of the gates and knuckled badly, but he pulled-up perfect and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
“Fourth-up, he can’t be much fitter, and Blake Shinn rode him on Monday morning in a piece of work and thought it was excellent.”
Kent Jnr indicated that Bustling should be close to peak condition on Saturday, having finally shed the ‘excess’ weight accumulated during his near two-year absence from racing.
“It takes a while to get rid of two years of fat from not racing,” Kent Jnr stated.
“He had been in and out of work, but there was no high-end trials or races and it takes a while for them, and I really think we’ve got the horse fit.”
Apprentice jockey Logan Bates will ride Bustling, despite the race being a non-claiming event.
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