Harry Eustace described Sea King’s comfortable victory in Wednesday’s Bendigo Cup as an “absolute dream”, with the gelding securing a place Melbourne Cup field.
The five-year-old was making his debut for the Newmarket trainer in the Bendigo Group Three having previously raced for Sir Mark Prescott in Britain, with his 18 starts encompassing five wins and a notable sixth in the Ebor last time out.
Subsequently purchased by OTI Racing and sent to Eustace, Sea King was well supported for the 12-furlong contest, with jockey Declan Bates riding with supreme confidence, allowing Sea King to stride on round the field approaching the turn for home before pulling well clear in the straight.
Eustace and OTI Racing teamed up to finish fifth with Docklands in last Saturday’s Cox Plate and the trainer was delighted to see travelling companion Sea King sparkle on his Australian bow.
“It’s incredibly exciting. A lot was riding on it, it’s the last win-and-you’re-in (spot) for the Cup, so it’s an absolute dream result today,” Eustace told www.racing.com.
“I’d just like to thank (OTI’s) Terry (Henderson) in particular, he managed to buy this horse just before Docklands travelled down as well and it’s proving a pretty inspired purchase.
“Curiously, coming down, we never even thought we’d get close (to a Cup Spot) and, of course, since we’ve been here the Cup, as everyone is well aware, has really started cutting up, so the closer we got to getting in, the more pressure there was I suppose.”
Eustace also praised the winning jockey, adding: “It was just a beautiful ride from Dec Bates. We picked him because hopefully he’d understand the European style and it wouldn’t be a sit and sprint.
“It (the mid-race move) felt like it was quite a long way out, but I was very keen to impress on him that he was more of a typical European-type horse and he’s going to work his way into it. He took me at my word and it came off today.”
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