Horse racing: Maestro on classic path to Australia

An early decision to send Mr Maestro to Australia will give the gifted three-year-old every opportunity to stamp himself as a classic contender as the season unfolds.

An early decision to send Mr Maestro to Australia will give the gifted three-year-old every opportunity to stamp himself as a classic contender as the season unfolds.

The well-bred Andrew Forman-trained son of Savabeel will cross the Tasman tomorrow morning and, all going well, will open his Victorian campaign in a 1200m age group event at Sandown on Sunday.

Mr Maestro impressed last season during a light preparation and followed up a debut fifth with success at Avondale before finishing third in the Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m) behind Sharp 'N' Smart, subsequently also a black-type placegetter during the Queensland winter carnival.

"He's bred to get over a bit of ground and we thought that if we were to give him a realistic chance to get through to the Group 1 VRC Derby [2500m] then there were probably no options here," Forsman said yesterday.

"We decided to bite the bullet and get him over there early and get a few runs into him and hopefully he can hit his straps when he gets to a mile and further.

"The plan is to run him on Sunday, but he's a young horse that has never flown before so he has to handle the travel well," he said.

"He has been really good and he was an immature horse. He had a couple of bouts of shin soreness and even at the end when he ran third in the Champagne he was feeling the ground. He has improved a lot with his time out."

Out of a half-sister to the ill-fated dual Group 1 winner Lion Tamer, Mr Maestro may also be joined at some stage by others from the stable, although no firm plans have been made with domestic performances to determine their futures.

"There are a couple of others that have potential, but at this stage they will have a run here to make sure they are going well enough.

"We've got a nice team of horses coming up and would love to get one or two more over there," Forsman said.

-NZ Racing Desk.