Trainer Dan Meagher is ready to roll out one of his most promising imports from Singapore, with Lim’s Saltoro to line up in a 1400m benchmark 100 race at Caulfield this Saturday.
Meagher opted to stay in Melbourne with the five-year-old gelding rather than make the trek to Morphettville for the Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m), where the horse had also been nominated.
While Meagher had also entered top galloper Lim’s Kosciuszko for the same Morphettville feature, he has chosen to delay that runner’s return to the track.
Ideally, Meagher would have preferred to kick off Lim’s Saltoro’s Australian campaign over 1200m but is confident the gelding is forward enough to perform over 1400m on Saturday.
“He’s had three trials and jump-outs, and I took him away for two of them,” Meagher said.
“You have to remember he has not done that before, travelling and then racing so I thought it was pretty important for him to do that, and I think he got a lot of benefit out of it.
“He’s going super. He’s a very good horse and I have no doubt he will measure up here, but I just don’t know at what level.
“It’s a learning curve on Saturday. He’s got a great record, but where does that line up here.”
Lim’s Saltoro has already had a taste of Caulfield, having trialled on the Heath track on April 10 before finishing runner-up in a jump-out at Moe on April 28.
“I trialled him at the Caulfield Heath, and he went terrific,” Meagher said.
“He’s had three goes at 1400 metres, for two wins and a second, and first-up after six months or so, I probably would have preferred 1200 or 1300 metres, but he’s had the trials, so we’ll see.”
Lim’s Ida, another Singapore import who was formerly trained by Steven Burridge, will also step out at Caulfield on Saturday alongside Lim’s Saltoro.
According to Meagher, Lim’s Ida held his own against Lim’s Saltoro and Lim’s Kosciuszko in Singapore, but the Australian campaign will reveal more about his standing.
“He’s an older horse that I need to place pretty well to win, but he seems to be going pretty well,” Meagher said.
“I haven’t got any gear on him. I want to see how he shapes up and then I’ll get serious with him.”
Meagher also confirmed that Lim’s Bighorn and Arentee will take their place in a benchmark 84 race over 1200m on Saturday’s Caulfield card.
