By Chris Roots
Wizard of Odds: Live Odds, Form and Alerts for all Racing
Highclere Thoroughbreds proudly owns some of the great trophies in world racing and a Sydney Cup would sit well alongside the English Derby and King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes silverware.
Cup dreaming: Harry Herbert is hoping Libran can add the Sydney Cup trophy to Highclere Thoroughbred's trophy cabinet.Credit: bradleyphotos.com.au
Harry Herbert bought Libran as a Melbourne Cup type of horse, a handicapper with the potential to develop.
He is by no means a superstar like Highclere's Derby winner Motivator and world champion Harbinger, but her history shows the way world racing is heading.
Not every horse can run in a Derby or in the best company in Europe, but there are options galore for the right horse these days. It might not be easy to buy the right horse but Herbert now has the bug after purchasing Libran.
"I think in modern racing, international racing, is right at the pinnacle for my owners," Herbert said. "If you don't have a classic horse at home, the experience of coming to these sort of meetings for the big prize money is fantastic.
"Libran has racked up more than $300,000 in his last three starts and if he keeps going there is more to come. It is very attractive racing down here."
Libran carries the Highclere silks but has proven a learning experience for Herbert and his team. He has changed the way they communicate with owners after dealing with master trainer Chris Waller.
"You don't need to speak to Chris that often, which is quite unique," Herbert said. "Chris is a bit of an enigma, a bit of a mystery man.
"He is so good with his communication through email and voice messages, you feel he gets the message across very clearly without talking to him.
"That's what I need for my owners. We were so impressed with Chris' system that we changed to that system. That shows how good he is at it."
Waller was chosen as Highclere's trainer on reputation when they sent Opinion to Australia, a venture which proved successful when he won a Metropolitan Handicap.
There was little doubt he would get another horse and Libran has proved to be a wise choice.
Waller's knack of getting the best out of his stock and setting little goals has Libran arriving at the Sydney Cup with only 53kg and fighting out favouritism with more seasoned stablemates Who Shot Thebarman and Grand Marshal.
"They sent out a nice horse and he was here for the spring carnival but we took him slowly," Waller said. "I set him for an 1800m which I thought he would win but they went a bit slow and he didn't [win].
"It gave me a good idea of the horse and where he could go. We set for the Chairman's Handicap, which is a semi-final , and he won it and now gets a chance at the grand final.
"It is a bonus for us but I think his win last week is a good indicator that he is up to a race like this one."
Libran had proved a difficult horse to sell after Highclere acquired him following a fourth in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Herbert was faced with a first – not being able to find enough owners – but when Libran won at York it became much easier.
"This is a horse when I launched him to our owners all around the world, I struggled to sell a share in," Herbert said.
"I had to hold on to him and aim him into the Ebor Handicap, our biggest handicap. I had to get myself out of this [mess].
"We ended up missing the Ebor by one but I crossed entry just in case of a mile-and-a-half handicap, which he won. I relaunched after the Ebor meeting and sold quickly."
Once Libran was in Australia, Herbert continued to learn about the different style of training and racing.
The European system has stayers running strictly at their preferred distance and Waller has helped Herbert understand why a stayer has to be conditioned differently in Australia.
Herbert admits that the Melbourne Cup, rather than the Sydney Cup, was a prime driver for his investment in Australia.
"We were so ignorant, we don't know about anything else [about racing in Australia] in England other than the Melbourne Cup. It is the race every owner in the world wants to win and is a great selling point for any horse," Herbert said.
"We have learned a lot more about racing out here with Opinion and Libran. We have learned you need a faster horse, slow coaches just won't be able to compete here.
"Chris has been fantastic during the process at explaining to me why he is running Libran [a stayer] over six and seven furlongs. It is about getting him fit and getting the speed back into him.
"The style and the way it is done here is very alien to us. Having a mile-and-a-half horse run over a mile and see him run very well with no chance is something we are getting used to."
Once Libran got to a staying trip of 2000m he won, and has added a Manion Cup and Chairman's since.
"This horse is still developing and I would like to think there is a fair bit to come and I think Chris feels that too," Herbert said.
"It would be great to win on Saturday and dreaming of the Melbourne Cup then might be realistic rather than just a dream."
