Neasham banking on Usain Boss to bounce back at Randwick

Annabel Neasham is the first to admit she would usually spell a two-year-old after an inglorious debut performance, but she has opted to persist with Usain Boss in the hope he can rebound at Randwick.

After convincingly winning a jump out in Victoria, Usain Boss started well in the market for the Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield last month but failed to beat a rival home, finishing 15 lengths astern of the winner.

It was a performance that left Neasham scratching her head.

“I don’t know what happened because his jump outs were really good and he is a beautiful horse,” Neasham said.

“He just looked like a drunken sailor down the straight. I actually thought he had gone amiss. The ground really disintegrated during the day, so maybe it was the ground.

“But he is a lot better than that.”

The stable brought Usain Boss back to Sydney where the youngster has continued to please them.

Neasham decided to roll the dice and give him another run, most likely in Saturday’s Shinzo @ Coolmore Plate (1000m), although an awkward draw could tempt connections to wait another seven days.

“Often I would turn them out after a run like that but we got him back up to Sydney and he has done nothing but please us in his work,” Neasham said.

“We thought we would run him again because it was too bad to be true and see if he could bounce back to what we thought he was.”

Neasham and partner Rob Archibald will also be represented by Southern Prince, a son of Trapeze Artist raced by the stallion’s owner Bert Vieira.

Southern Prince has been accepted for the Magic Millions The Debut (1000m) at the Gold Coast on Friday and is an emergency for the BJ McLachlan Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday, but while Neasham is still to consult with the colt’s ownership group, she is favouring keeping him in Sydney.

“He’s a big, scopey horse. He is doing everything professionally and he has won a trial, but I’d say he is going to be better next time in,” she said.

“So we will probably just stay at home, give him this run and pop him out for a bit more time.

“I would have preferred 1200, but I have put the blinkers on because he’s quite a casual customer and if they overdo it up front he will be coming home late and that will bring him into it.”