For the past 12 months Horsham trainer Paul Preusker has meticulously focused on one race for his star stayer Surprise Baby and the fruits of that planning will be revealed on Tuesday when the lightly tried Kiwi-bred contests the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) for the second time.
The knock-about horseman saddled the son of Shocking to finish fifth in a sedately run affair last year and 12 months on he believes the lessons learned from that race will hold Surprise Baby in good stead.
Since last year's Cup, Surprise Baby has purposely had just two starts, with a view to arriving on the big day well placed in the world's greatest handicap.
With 54.5kgs, last year's Cup winning jockey Craig Williams in the saddle and barrier seven, the stars are certainly aligning for the bargain purchase, who made his way to Australia after being sold on gavelhouse.com as an unraced three-year-old in New Zealand.
For NZ$5,500, owner John Fiteni has already enjoyed plenty of thrills as the horse has banked A$998,735 in prizemoney in his 13 career starts, and he rounded out his Cup preparations with a second placing in the Gr.2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) followed by a luckless ninth in the Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m).
"He was nice and strong to the line in the Turnbull. Craig (Williams) got off him and was thrilled," Preusker said.
"He said Surprise Baby had taken a significant step as he was able to settle on the fence, something he hadn't been able to do previously, and then get to the outside.
"Hopefully in the Melbourne Cup we can get a position and get good cover this year. With this in mind we've done things a bit differently which has been about teaching him to settle.
"The fact he settled so well on the fence from barrier one in the Turnbull Stakes was a real confidence booster.
"It means he can get cover in the run and not over-stride."
Preusker said the paddock-trained six-year-old had grown mentally in the past year and was a more complete racehorse.
"He's a bit bigger but he's not a big horse, he weighs in at 480kgs. It's just that he has that big stride," he said.
"He's not what people expect when they see him.
Preusker elected not to run Surprise Baby again between the Turnbull Stakes and Melbourne Cup, which he will tackle at his third campaign run.
"He's got plenty of miles in his legs and he's fit and ready to go," he said.
"Last year he held a lot of nerves, this year he's more of a V8 Diesel, he's a lot more relaxed and a lot better horse to train this year.
"It's very easy to over-train them on the farm, so I've been mindful of that. I haven't changed much that I did last year I've stuck to the same plan.
"Mentally he's switched off, that's probably the greatest strength he's got (this time around)."
Surprise Baby is on the third line of betting at $8.50 with international raider Tiger Moth favourite at $7.50 and Anthony Van Dyke at $8.
