No one could foresee what Nature Strip would go on to achieve when he took out the 2018 edition of the Creswick S., however, much like the Clinton McDonald-trained Star Patrol, who has won his last three starts by a combined 14l, the expectations were high leading into the offseason Flemington feature.
McDonald, the son of legendary trainer Ross, has handled a host of elite-level gallopers throughout his time and without getting caught up in the hype, he says there are similarities between Star Patrol and his three-time Group 1 winner Regal Roller (Regal Classic {Can}).
Clinton and Margaret McDonald
“As we know with horses you don’t get too far ahead of yourself and while it’s an old cliché, you just take things one race at a time and keep raising the bar and see whether they can jump that bar,” McDonald told TDN AusNZ.
“This horse is exciting there’s no doubt about it, he’s obviously got to keep getting stronger and more professional but if he does that we’re hoping he can get to the pinnacle of Group 1 racing and be a consistent sprinter.”
"This horse (Star Patrol) is exciting there’s no doubt about it... we’re hoping he can get to the pinnacle of Group 1 racing and be a consistent sprinter." - Clinton McDonald
McDonald is refusing to fix what isn’t broken and will again follow the proven formula of saddling Star Patrol up a month between runs.
He is unwilling to describe the 1200-metre contest as a match race between his galloper and Grahame Begg’s undefeated filly Passive Aggressive (Fastnet Rock), saying G3 Quezette S. heroine Gimme Par (Not A Single Doubt) and the First Light Racing-owned colt Pascero (Pierro) are not without winning chances.
“He’s a month between runs, he’s had a couple nice gallops leading into this race and we can’t fault the horse,” McDonald said.
“It’s a lot stronger race than he has ran in before, he’s giving good horses weight and while he’s going well he will need to be pretty good to win.”
Star Patrol is hoping to notch his first black-type success in the Listed Creswick S. on Saturday
A shooting Star
McDonald isn’t completely surprised by Star Patrol’s meteoric rise despite the gelding's inability to break through in six career starts for Kacy Fogden and Mark Newnham respectively.
He said the stable will continue to manage the exciting prospect accordingly to ensure he can reach peak maturity with enough left in the tank to produce high-level sprinting performances.
“He’s shown all those trainers good ability, but I just don’t think he was ready maturity wise, he was still a big baby and even now he is still maturing and learning, he’s not the finished product,” McDonald said.
Star Patrol as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“Horses aren’t fully mature until they’re 5-year-olds and I think for sprinters if you can keep them sound and racing to that age you have that finished product, which we are hoping to do with this horse.”
The move from Caulfield to Cranbourne has proved a blessing in disguise for McDonald, who believes the high-class training centre suits Star Patrol perfectly.
“The base here at Cranbourne is magnificent, there’s nothing better in Australia, we have a bush track out the back, four grass tracks, a brand new poly track, a big sand track and lovely stables,” McDonald said.
“It’s a very good environment to train a horse, there’s no hustle and bustle it’s very relaxed and I think for this horse, now I’ve gotten to know him, that it suits him well as he wouldn’t have liked that high-intensity city track.”
"It’s (Cranbourne) a very good environment to train a horse, there’s no hustle and bustle it’s very relaxed and I think for this horse (Star Patrol), now I’ve gotten to know him, that it suits him well as he wouldn’t have liked that high-intensity city track." - Clinton McDonald
Star Patrol’s recent success hasn’t given McDonald the urge to attack next season's yearling sales with the intention of increasing the size of his stable.
He is excited by the quality of young stock currently in his care and expects the winners to start flowing within the next six months.
“We are a stable of 31 and my father always had 30 to 35 horses, no more, so we’re happy to remain at this number,” McDonald said.
“We buy big at the sales, we buy quality at the sales and spend money in looking for these types of horses and hopefully there’s a couple more coming through as we’ve probably got the best bunch of young horses we’ve had in the stable for a long time.”
Girl gearing up for a big spring
Listed Morphettville Guineas heroine Ancient Girl (NZ) (Turn Me Loose {NZ}) could be set for a big spring carnival, with McDonald attributing her G1 Australasian Oaks failure to an inability to see out 2000 metres.
“She doesn’t run 2000 metres so we won’t venture down that path again, I think she’s going to be a beautiful 4-year-old mare running over seven furlongs to a mile,” McDonald said.
Ancient Girl (NZ), winner of the Listed Morphettville Guineas
“She’s very strong over that distance and I think she will come back lightly raced and have a very nice spring as she wasn’t beaten far by Barb Raider and all the form around her is very good.”
