Racing: Wheeler sets sights on Flemington

James McDonald on All In Black glances across at Stand Tall at the finish of the Hawkes Bay Gold Cup. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

Saturday's $100,000 Fairview Livestock Hawkes Bay Cup winner gained automatic entry into the spring's Kelt Capital Stakes.

But it was elsewhere later this year that trainer John Wheeler was looking after pulling off a coup in winning the Cup with emerging mare All In Black at Hastings.

Wheeler wants the Melbourne Cup.

That's a lofty target with a mare who has had just one open-class race, but Wheeler feels it's an easier option than the Kelt.

"It's a long way from the bottom of the handicap like she had this time to carrying weight-for-age.

"In the Melbourne Cup she'd be somewhere close to the minimum weight."

Stand Tall looked perfectly placed to go close in Saturday's Cup, but right through Wheeler felt that although he rated Stand Tall the horse to beat, All In Black could beat her stablemate if she regained the field off the ballot.

She did and Wheeler was half right.

Stand Tall was beaten three-quarters of a length and would have gone very close to winning had he not been held up for racing room in the final stages.

Wheeler has always thought All In Black had top-class staying potential.

"She's by Don Eduardo, who was a big, slow bloke, and it took her to her 10th race start to win her second race.

"But when she won at home [New Plymouth] at her last start, I knew she was right where she needed to be for this big race.

"I know the opposition wasn't up to much that day, but they don't win as easy as she did with 59kg on their back unless they're very good."

Wheeler knew All In Black was going to go close at the 600m on Saturday.

"James [McDonald] had a real handful of horse and, to be honest, I thought he might have gone too soon.

"I thought, 'You're taking a risk with Vosne Romanee right behind you and giving him a drag into the race.'

"But he didn't really set her alight - he sort of slid around a few horses."

Bruce Almighty had set a fierce pace and commentator Tony Lee hit the jackpot at the 600m when he said: "The best staying horse is going to win today".

"She's a dead-set staying horse," Wheeler says of All In Black.

Which is why the Melbourne Cup holds a lot of appeal.

"I told the connections that was the race to set for.

"I don't really set horses for races, I set them for a time of year and take advantage of what's around.

"You can become too tunnel visioned because if they're not going quite good enough for the planned race, you can switch to something else.

"But the Melbourne Cup is a race you'd make a long-term commitment to."

Wheeler might look at the Kelt Capital on the way through with All In Black, but is well aware of the difficulties of getting a horse like that ready in time because of the wet spring tracks in Taranaki.

"The Melbourne Cup is a race that's within her grasp. She looks like she'll get 3200m."

All In Black will probably be kept going until the Rotorua Cup and then be spelled.

The mare, who is raced by McDonald family of Taranaki and is out of a half-sister to their group one winner All In Fun, has a record of 14 starts for five wins, two seconds and two thirds.

"She's been up for eight or nine months and this is her first preparation. They don't come through like that unless they're special."

Stand Tall, in the best form of his career, is heading to Brisbane.

"There's a lot of good races for him there. He can run in races like the Doomben Cup, Hollindale Cup and Brisbane Cup."