Cup chance no mirage for son of Frankel

IF Caulfield Cup chance Mirage Dancer’s first gallop at Cranbourne is any indication trainer Trent Busuttin could have a hard time keeping a “lid on things” ahead of the $5 million classic.

Mirage Dancer, a six-yearold son of English star stallion Frankel, was floated to the Busuttin-natalie Young yard on Saturday morning after being cleared from quarantine at Werribee.

The import galloped about 30 minutes after stepping off the truck and did not turn a hair.

“He’s a six-year-old stallion that acts like an eight-year-old gelding,” Busuttin said.

“He’s got the best temperament … he galloped with a mare, sat beside her, walked beside her, trotted off beside her and didn’t bat an eyelid, he’s a lovely natured straightforward horse.”

Mirage Dancer has won four of 18 career starts and placed on eight other occasions.

He ran second in the Group 3 Glorious Stakes at Goodwood last start in August.

The promising northern hemisphere stayer last year split eventual Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution and the fourth placegetter Duretto in a 2400-metre Group 2 race at Newmarket.

“We’re trying to keep a lid on things,” Busuttin said.

“Seen things go wrong very quickly. Look they come out here and you don’t know until the day whether they turn up or not. I think we’ve got the right-credentialed horse and if he can turn up in the right order he will run a competitive race.”

Mirage Dancer, a $13 chance with TAB to win the Caulfield Cup, is also nominated for the Melbourne Cup.

Busuttin, whose father Paddy prepared 1992 Melbourne Cup placegetter Castletown, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated stayers, will saddle up his first Cup horse on Saturday.