Aztec Bromac will use Friday night’s Oberon Cup as the beginning of his campaign to qualify for the Miracle Mile in February.
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Robbie Morris is set to drive the 2016 Shirley Turnbull Memorial winner, as Morris looks to win back-to-back Oberon Cups after winning last year’s with Mojo Major.
Trained by Morris’ partner KerryAnn Turner, Aztec Bromac will start the race 30 metres behind the start, in what is set to be a standing start
It is the horse’s first start of the year, after coming off a win at the $60,540 Queensland Cup at Albion Park on December 16.
“He’s coming off a good campaign in Queensland, where he won his last two and won a group 2 [Queensland Cup] so he seems really good in himself,” Morris said.
“He’s had a bit of a freshen up, so we programmed that race for him. It’s a first up, leading into his campaign for the Miracle Mile carnival.
“It’s a standard start. So it’ll be interesting for him. Not just for him but for all of them. They don’t do it often.
“It’s a good little race to start off his campaign.”
Morris said the standing start is something Aztec Bromac is somewhat use to.
“He’s a little bit different. If he was an Australian-bred horse, he probably would’ve never seen the tapes,” he said.
“Because he’s a Kiwi, he had three or four trials in New Zealand under standing start conditions so he’s somewhat use to it. However, he hasn’t done it for quite a while but he’s been doing it at home for a fortnight.
“He’s been standing really well so he should handle it really well.
“We’ve to start at a 30 metre handicap and ones like Oh I Am The One are starting on the line, so it’s always a race of tactics these standing starts.”
Only one horse will return from the Oberon Cup’s 2017 field – Saloon Passage.
Trained by Eglinton’s Nathan Hurst, Saloon Passage is another New Zealand horse and has recently trialled under standing start.
Morris drove Mojo Major to a narrow victory over then race favourite Saloon Passage by half a neck.
“Saloon Passage has been a nice horse for a couple of years now and he’s doing a great job for the Hurst family.
“He’s definitely another horse to look out for ... but there’s nothing there that I’m petrified of.
“Hopefully we can win another Oberon Cup.
“It’s just one of those races that’ll come down to how they step, lucky running and hopefully all the horses get their chances.”
The eight race meeting starts at 7.03pm with the Oberon Council Pace, with the feature Oberon Cup (2260 metres) race starting at 9.03pm.