Kiwi trainer Mike Moroney will partner with compatriot James McDonald on Saturday as he attempts to win his third Victoria Derby.
The Flemington trainer will saddle the lightly-raced Chapada in the
three-year-old Classic and Moroney believes the son of Bullet Train (IRE) has
all the attributes of a Derby horse. Moroney has previously won the VRC Derby with Second Coming (1997) and Monaco Consul (2009), while Sabrage finished third for the stable in 2011.
"Chapada is a really nice staying horse and he's got a touch of speed and class about him too," Moroney said.
"He's handled the lead up after a minor setback, where some wouldn't have.
"He's kept improving and we expect big improvement between his second to Thinkin' Big a fortnight ago at Caulfield and this Saturday.
"We had to rush him a bit to get to Wangaratta, the day he won by five lengths, but since then it's all flowed quite well and he's just kept improving."
Moroney said the riding engagement of McDonald, who replaces Patrick Moloney, came about after he sold some shares in the horse.
"I owned a fair share of him and sold down to clients, and they were keen to have James on," he said.
Following the release of barrier draws, Chapada ($13) drew barrier 12, while race favourite Thinkin' Big ($3) has barrier 9.
Chapada is one of 69 winners worldwide for Frankel's less successful three-quarter brother Bullet Train, a Group III winning son of Sadler's Wells that shuttled to Bowness Stud for five seasons.
A world champion racehorse and now a super young sire, Frankel himself will
also have a runner in Farooq, a Northern Hemisphere conceived Australian bred
colt from Group I winning sprinter Rostova.A homebred for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum trained by Tony McEvoy, Farooq was a brave last start second in the Listed Geelong Classic and has drawn barrier two.
Click here to see the full field and barrier draw
