Experience has shaped John Bary’s trans-Tasman raid on The Championships and it is cool and calculated.
The former polo international became well known as the trainer of Jimmy Choux a couple of years ago. He has since travelled the world.
He slipped into Sydney on the first day of the multimillion-dollar meeting with Recite and Miss Selby, intending to have them at their top for $1 million targets a week later.
“I have found my horses’ best run in Australia is first-up, so we weren’t going to waste it,” Bary said.
“Jimmy was a perfect example when we came for the Derby; he won the Rosehill Guineas and he wasn’t as good on Derby day. Then we almost pulled it off in the Cox Plate [when beaten by Pinker Pinker] in the spring, when it was his first run here.
“The Hombre is another we had success with – the same thing in Brisbane.”
So when boost in The Championships prizemoney was announced in November, Bary knew how and when he would attack and a couple of three-year-old fillies of the highest quality have stood up.
Recite earned her trip to Australia by wining the Levin Classic at group 1 level and will look to take the Queen Of The Turf crown away with her.
But Miss Selby is the subject a long-term plan that dates back to August. Its intent is to have her at her best for the Australian Oaks at Randwick on Saturday.
"It has been since August that I have been planning this with her," Bary said.
"I had some Aussie guys over then, who are mates of the owner of Miss Selby and we were chatting and looking at the filly and I said to the boys, 'She is going to the New Zealand Oaks and then I will be in Sydney to see ya in April’.
"It has been a long, patient build-up to get here and this whole season has been focused [on being] in Sydney on this day.
"Especially with these classic races you have to believe in your systems and your horse and target them, and that’s what I have done.
"If you just say, 'Gee, it ran well in that race', and I go to the next race you will never be at 100 per cent for the grand final."
Miss Selby has never missed a place in seven races career but has only the two wins, the better in the Lowland Stakes before her runner-up finish in the New Zealand Oaks.
However, being a daughter of O’Reilly, she has relished getting some toe in the ground in the style of the traditional Kiwi raiders.
"She is not a big robust horse," Bary said. "She is more the classic Kiwi hard, wiry, and carries no extra weight on her. That's why we have raced her every four weeks.
"The ground won’t be an issue for her and she is a stayer. It was a rock-hard track in the New Zealand Oaks and she didn’t really like it. The start before that she was on a dead sort of a track and let down and absolutely murdered them.
"Every time she has got a bit of cut in the ground, she has let go and that’s what I expect on Saturday."
Recite might just be the better of the two fillies and Bary has decided to test her against the best and has an eye on the Cox Plate in the spring.
He has nursed her through her third year after she was unbeaten as a juvenile, including a group 1 victory. She was still able to bank another group 1 in the Levin Classic over the mile.
"Miss Selby was always an Oaks filly but Recite just has too much brilliance to be a 2400-metre horse," Bary said.
"She goes well over the mile now but I think her best distance will be 2040m. I have been close to the Holy Grail once before and would love to have a crack at it with her.
"She has got a couple of good ones to beat on Saturday. Red Tracer, Streama and Catkins are proven, but she is balanced and got a fantastic brain.
“We are asking a big question of her to travel and take on the older horses but she has any amount of ability and can run some fantastic times.”
While Recite’s group 1 win came in the Levin Classic, it was the start after that in the Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes that was her most impressive.
"It was only a listed race but it was weight-for-age against older horses and she just donkey-licked them," Bary said.
"We ummed and ahhed about going to the Australian Guineas after that but she just didn’t have the condition on her. So we button off again and gave her a break and she put the weight on, which was a great sign."
She tuned up for the trip to Sydney by running second to Queen Of The Turf rival Viadana in the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes a couple of weeks ago.
“It will be a very satisfying beer on Saturday if Miss Selby can win the Oaks because it has been such a long time coming,” Bary said. “If they both win I won’t be on the plane on Sunday.”
