Budderoo Knight can be his own worst enemy at times, but co-trainer Luke Price is confident the ‘quirky’ six-year-old will be ready to fire at Warwick Farm this week.
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The grey gelding will return to town to contest the #theraces Benchmark 75 Handicap (1400m) on Wednesday.
He had himself to blame when finishing out of the placings in a last start run at Moruya, but had previously impressed Price at metropolitan level with two mid-field runs.
“They were definitely respectable runs and I thought it showed that he is still up to them,” Price, who trains alongside his father Rob, said.
“He is a horse that has a few quirks and he needs everything to go right in a race.
“He needs to be on his best behaviour that’s why the 12 day back up and keeping him at 1400m is the right thing to do.”
Budderoo Knight stuck on gamely at his last run despite causing all kinds of problems for jockey Peter Wells when he started as favourite at Moruya on September 29.
“It wasn’t a very fast run race that day and he got himself in all sorts of trouble before boxing on really well with the big weight,” Price said.
With apprentice Andrew Atkins 1.5kg claim on Wednesday, Budderoo Knight will drop in weight from 59kgs to 55.5kgs at the Farm.
He has drawn wide in barrier 10.
“We don’t mind the barrier draw actually,” Price said.
“We will probably ride him a bit closer because the Warwick Farm 1400m suits him to do that.
“I think there should be good speed in the race so they is going to ran along. He might be able to get in behind the speed.
“Hopefully we see the best of him.”
Budderoo Knight is a $21 outsider for his 1400m test.
The Price’s also have Dashie de Luxe (race four) and Fly Forward (race six) nominated for the afternoon.
The stable have nominated Dashie de Luxe for Sunday’s meeting at Moruya while Fly Forward will run in the McGrath Estate Agents NSW Benchmark 74 Handicap (1100m).
“It will probably be a touch short for him but there is a really nice race at Kembla for him [on Cox Plate day] which this should prepare him for perfectly,” Price said.
Race one is at 1.25pm on Wednesday.
