No one would bat an eyelid if Dom Sutton talked up Feroce's appearance in Saturday's $3 million Group One Caulfield Guineas as the culmination of a plan he made when he first laid eyes on him.
The NZ$160,000 NZB Ready To Run Sale purchase from Kilgravin Lodge's draft, is a son of 2019 Guineas winner Super Seth from a famous family that has strong links to the Caulfield Guineas.
But Sutton isn't taking liberties with the truth.
Feroce was one of three horses the Ballarat trainer bought at that sale in partnership with Johnny McKeever and he wasn't realistically thinking of the Guineas at the time.
"We always thought when we identified him at the sales that he was a horse that was going to get over a mile and maybe a little bit further," Sutton said.
"But we went there just trying to buy horses we liked that we could train, hoping to win races and get our name out there.
"We thought by identifying the NZB Ready To Run Sale, where a lot of good horses have come out over the years, we could find some nice horses and be able to head to the races within the first few months of taking out my licence.
"We had a lot of horses on our list who were out of our price-range and ended up going to Hong Kong, but we were fortunate enough to have been able to nab him."
The 29-year-old Englishman will be forever grateful that he did.
Feroce's maiden win at Pakenham was Sutton's first as a trainer and his Caulfield win two weeks later was his first city success.
He was also his first Black Type starter, thanks to his fourth in the Listed Anzac Day Stakes, and he will become his first Group 1 runner.
It is appropriate he will notch that milestone in the Caulfield Guineas.
Feroce is a member of the first crop of Super Seth, the son of Dundeel who scored an exhilarating Guineas win five years ago, out of Pencarrow Stud's O'Reilly mare Corinthia, who traces back to the immortal Eight Carat.
Among Eight Carat's foals are Kaapstad and Octagonal, who both finished third in the Guineas, while Octagonal is the sire of 2001 Guineas champion Lonhro.
The 2001 Guineas was a family reunion of sorts with fourth placegetter Viking Ruler a half-brother to Feroce's granddam Chimeara, a daughter of Tristalove, while the beaten favourite was Lonhro's stablemate Viscount, who is a son of Tristalove's sister Antwerp.
Another of Tristalove's sons, Kempinsky, ran third in the 2003 Guineas.
"He's definitely bred for the Guineas, so fingers crossed he can reach the heights of some of those horses," Sutton said.
The Guineas links extend to Feroce's owners with former Western Bulldogs footballer Tory Dickson, who was a part-owner of Super Seth, among the ownership group.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae, his former Brisbane Lions teammate Justin Leppitsch and newly-inducted Melbourne Racing Club president John Kanga are among the others in the ownership.
Sutton expects the team will have something to cheer about in some capacity in the home straight with Feroce primed for the Guineas third-up.
The gelding's first-up run in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1200m) was a non-event and he then went to the Group 2 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) where he finished fourth, but was beaten just over half-a-length by Angel Capital.
Sutton concedes hot favourite Broadsiding presents a stumbling block, but he expects Feroce to again be competitive against the horses coming through the Prelude.
"He was right around those other horses, but they're half the price compared to what we are," he said.
"His form is as good as any of those horses, he's there to run a big race and the mile is really going to suit."
Billy Egan has ridden Feroce, a $51 chance in the Guineas, at all five starts and retains the ride with the pair to jump from barrier two.
