Sam Pritchard-Gordon plans to catch up with Gai Waterhouse for a coffee before the Metropolitan, but come Saturday it'll be all business for the Mornington trainer.
The English native will saddle up Buxted in the $400,000 mile-and-a-half feature at Randwick, hopeful of upstaging his old boss who attacks the race with hardy stayers Glencadam Gold and Reuben Percival.
Pritchard-Gordon worked under Waterhouse at Tulloch Lodge about a year after moving to Australia in 2005, before spending four years as racing manager with Lee and Anthony Freedman.
Last season he began training, and this weekend's Metropolitan is his first assignment in Sydney since branching out on his own.
He comes to Sydney well armed. Buxted won the Japan Racing Association Stakes (2500m) three weeks ago at Moonee Valley and Pritchard-Gordon is expecting further improvement.
“He's come through in very good order, he's thrived and he's probably a better horse for it,” Pritchard-Gordon said.
“He'll be the fittest horse going into the race, but not necessarily the most seasoned. You can't be confident going into a Group 1 with your first Group 1 runner.
“He's done nothing wrong, he's more genuine than a number of the runners and he certainly warrants a place in the field.”
Much like Newcastle Cup winner Glencadam Gold, Buxted is an Irish-bred galloper who has only recently moved to Australia.
“Take the two horses out of the UK and my horse probably had a 10-point higher rating as opposed to Glencadam Gold who is obviously on the improve, but there's no reason why my horse can't keep improving either,” Pritchard-Gordon said.
“It was half the price of anything that Gai bought.
“He's by a good stallion [Dynaformer]. My brother's a bloodstock agent in the UK and he keeps his finger on the pulse.
“He's a horse that he wanted to buy when he first appeared as a four-year-old but they wanted silly figures.
“We just kept an eye on him, he popped up in the sales at the right price and was duly bought.”
