Master trainer Neville Parnham has delved into his bag of tricks in a bid to revitalise the career of evergreen gelding Bustler prior to Saturday’s Group 2 Afgri Equipment Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) at Ascot.
Now a seven-year-old, Bustler has not tasted success since claiming the 2023 Railway Stakes (1600m) from Alsephina and Dom To Shoot.
Mindful that his charge is facing a tough test at weight-for-age against some of the State’s premier gallopers in the $300,000 feature, Parnham has altered his training approach.
“Yes, he hasn’t won a race since the Railway Stakes, but he hasn’t been going terrible,” Parnham said.
“He has suffered the consequences of a Railway Stakes winner being penalised … and we still can’t get him too far down in the ratings. He’s going well the horse, I’m really happy with him.
“We’ve tried to invigorate and get a bit of interest back into him, sometimes they lose a bit of confidence. We’ve had him out at Chris (Parnham) and Jade’s (McNaught) property out at Bullsbrook.
“I took him out there a couple of times last weekend. We started off over the logs, doing a bit of equestrian work with him and he was a bit of a natural jumper, even if only a foot and a half high, he got over them really well. Jade said he was just a natural.
“Whether that sparks any interest into him remains to be seen. I think the smaller field (on Saturday) will help him, but he comes up against quality horses.”
Parnham is also eager to see how Consignment, like Bustler a son of Playing God, performs in what shapes as a high-end Listed WAROA Fairetha Stakes (1400m).
A $160,000 yearling purchase, Consignment resumed with a runner-up placing to Excelindeed last week at Belmont in his first start as a three-year-old.
The Sean and Jake Casey-trained Beatty was installed as the odds-on favourite by TABtouch when markets first opened for the traditional lead-up to the WA Guineas (1600m) on Wednesday and looks certain to remain extremely popular with punters following his devastating victory in the Listed Belgravia Stakes (1200m) a fortnight ago.
“Obviously the favourite is looking like a forgone conclusion,” Parnham said.
“We sort of rode him (Consignment) out of his comfort zone the other day, we were forced to do that with the way the track was playing last week.
“Hoping back to Ascot, things will be a little bit different. We’d like to ride him a bit quieter and let him be a chaser … he’s capable of running in the top four, yes.
“I think he’s going well enough to run very well so hopefully we can see him hitting the line in this race and hopefully he gets a run in the Guineas … that will be his target.”
With the $100,000 Crystal Slipper Stakes (1100m) a fortnight from Saturday, Parnham will unearth a pair of talented juveniles in the Magic Millions Plate (1100m) – Just An Illusion and Malibu Star.
The duo are trial winners, with Just An Illusion claiming both her heats, the first over 400m and most recently over 850m for Steven Parnham, who will ride on the weekend. Malibu Star ran third in that latest heat.
“I like both fillies, they both go really nice,” Parnham said.
“Malibu Star is out of a family that I’ve had a bit of luck with, with Malibu Style and Excelorada in that family, amongst others.
“She showed a bit of speed. Lucky (Laqdar Ramoly) said he didn’t really ask her for much (over 850m), he was quite happy to allow her to glide to the line, so we were happy with her performance and she’s got natural speed.
“The other filly, she sat in her trial after going quite well in a 400m jump-out and when she kind of wound up, she hit the line quite strongly.
“It was very encouraging and we thought going forward towards a race, it was very promising.
“She’s pretty easygoing … she’s got a promising future.”
