Bow Creek In Good Company At Caulfield

It is the race that announces the Australian Autumn and one that is invariably claimed by an outstanding horse.

The G1 C F Orr Stakes is the first G1 race of 2016 and with the winners of 13 top level events among the 18 runners, it is likely to take another exceptional horse to win it in 2016.

Among the Orr winners have been several G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Cox Plate heroes, the horse who couldn't be beaten, Black Caviar, and such other stars of the Australian turf as Manikato, Redoute's Choice, Saintly and Tobin Bronze. The Darley stallion Lonhro won the race in 2004.

On paper the 2016 edition contains plenty of in-form contestants, a few up-and-comers and some, like Godolphin's Bow Creek, whose class will take them a long way.

Bow Creek arrived in Australia late last year and made an immediate impression on his new trainer John O'Shea.

"He certainly catches the eye, when I first saw him I thought that if he could run up to his looks he'd be a good horse over here," O'Shea said.

The trainer's opinion received a glowing endorsement when Bow Creek made his local debut in the G2 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley last October where he finished a flashing second behind Turn Me Loose who opposes him again on Saturday.

When they met at Moonee Valley, Bow Creek had been through a trip from England, had just emerged from quarantine and was having his first start in more than three months, while Turn Me Loose was coming off a recent success.

This time he and Bow Creek will be on similar terms in that area.

The Orr has also attracted such quality runners as Boban, the winner of 11 races, the most recent the G1 Memsie Stakes over Saturday's course and distance.

Another multiple G1 winner, Lucky Hussler, comes into the race with the benefit of a recent run and shapes as the horse to beat, with other G1 winners including Happy Trails, Rebel Dane, who have won at G1 level at Caulfield and the high-class filly Fenway.

And Bow Creek, who has drawn barrier two isn't out of place in such exalted company.

The son of Shamardal from the Most Welcome mare Beneventa was trained throughout most of his UK career by Mark Johnston for His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.

Bow Creek won five races in England and Ireland, the best of them when he accounted for a field that included the good international performer Gordon Lord Byron in a G3 event at Leopardstown, Ireland.

Having shown a clear preference for firmer ground and having reached a point in his career at which he had reached his mark, Bow Creek was selected to join O'Shea and the Godolphin team in Australia.

"It seems that he is happier on dry tracks which is one of the reasons I sent him to Melbourne for Saturday's race," O'Shea said.

"The tracks have generally been firmer in Melbourne and he went very well down there in the Spring when he was fresh, so we're trying the same approach again."

Bow Creek had shown an inclination to be slow from the gates in his Australian starts and in trials, but O'Shea and his team worked on that issue and in his latest trial he bounced out of the gates without hesitation.

"He raced quite fresh in that trial, but with the trip to Melbourne and another two weeks of work he should be in good order for Saturday," O'Shea said.