Tanabi Bromac must overcome an awkward draw if he is to take out the BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley
It’s almost two years since Tanabi Bromac’s brilliant victory in the Alabar Victoria Derby stamped him as a horse of the future.
Fast-forward to Saturday night and that future is here as Keith Cotchin’s once precocious sit-sprinter lines up in the toughest staying test in Australian racing - the 3065-metre, $400,000 BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley.
For Cotchin, his gelding’s progression to the big stage is as overwhelming as it is satisfying.
“It’s hard to describe,” the trainer said. “You don’t think you’ll ever get one this good and then when you do it’s always in the back of your mind that he could make it as a Grand Circuit horse.
“To be here in these races is just something you never expect. It’s amazing.”
And after recent dominant wins in the Horsham and Shepparton Cups, Cotchin’s son of Live Or Die enters the biggest test of his burgeoning career at the zenith of his form.
Even an awkward second line draw in the standing start classic, to be run at 9.30pm, has done little to dent the confidence of his circumspect trainer.
“You can draw one or two and then get taken on in the lead and something comes along and blouses you,” Cotchin said. “So the race is hard to win wherever you are and we’re just happy the horse is firing on all cylinders.
“Of course it would have been nice to draw the front with such a good beginner, but he’ll still be around the mark. Gavin (Lang) will put him in a winning position.
Such outright positivity in the face of what many punters regard as a significant if not insurmountable obstacle is testimony to the Elmore trainer’s belief in the scope of his ever-improving gelding as a force at the elite level.
“Ever since Tasmania he’s improved at every run,” the trainer said. “This is the best I’ve had him, he’s right at the top of his game.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him, so there’s no reason why he can’t do it again.”
