Spade must dig deep for second Derby

Lance O’Sullivan admits his confidence in Rocket Spade’s prospects for Australia’s richest staying classic hasn’t been bolstered by the subsequent Australian performances of the pair that trailed him home in the Group I New Zealand Derby (2400m).

Rocket Spade is on the third line of betting for the A$2 million Group I Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick today after beating Milford by a short neck in the New Zealand Derby, with Frontman a further short head back in third.

But in their respective races since then both Milford and Frontman – who races as The Frontman in Australia – disappointed when finishing well held eighth placings in their Australian debuts, Milford in the Group I Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and The Frontman in the Group II Tulloch Stakes (2000m).

‘‘If they had been running closeup it would have given us a lot more encouragement,’’ said

O’Sullivan, who trains Rocket Spade in partnership with Andrew Scott. ‘‘Whether they’ve had good runs into the race or not I’m not too sure. Certainly, from our point of view it is a little bit disconcerting, but we won’t know for sure until the race.’’

One thing that might help is that Rocket Spade hasn’t usually won by large margins but instead does what he needs only, suggesting that he potentially has more to offer than he needed to win the New Zealand Derby.

‘‘You don’t know until they come up against the best, but he is a colt and he does tend to win his races by small margins, barring his last start.’’

Also in Sydney for the O’Sullivan-Scott team is veteran stayer Sir Charles Road, who runs today in the Group II Chairman’s Quality (2600m), a race he won three years ago. Sir Charles Road put up his best performance in some time when finishing second in the Group I Auckland Cup (3200m) on March 13.