Weekend Hussler's preparation aimed at an ambitious global campaign has stepped up a notch and trainer Ross McDonald says he will be ready for the clash with Apache Cat at the end of the month.McDonald was dispatched to Sydney on Saturday to supervise his son Clinton's horses at Rosehill and missed the champion's workout at Caulfield.But the reports of his gallop with Turffontein boosted McDonald's confidence as he plans the four-year-old's five-race autumn campaign."(Trainer) Colin Little clock
Weekend Hussler's preparation aimed at an ambitious global campaign has stepped up a notch and trainer Ross McDonald says he will be ready for the clash with Apache Cat at the end of the month.
McDonald was dispatched to Sydney on Saturday to supervise his son Clinton's horses at Rosehill and missed the champion's workout at Caulfield.
But the reports of his gallop with Turffontein boosted McDonald's confidence as he plans the four-year-old's five-race autumn campaign.
"(Trainer) Colin Little clocked him and I can't tell you what he ran but it was very quick," McDonald said.
"He will run in the Lightning, the Australia Stakes and the Futurity then go to Dubai and Hong Kong.
"With bonuses and everything on offer for the Mile series we could end up coming home with $10 million in our pockets."
The Lightning Stakes at Flemington on January 31 is also the scheduled return of sprint champion Apache Cat.
The Futurity, the Dubai Duty Free and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong in April are all part of the Asian Mile series with bonuses on offer depending on how many races a horse can win.
Weekend Hussler will be spelled after he contests the five races and be set for the Cox Plate in October.
McDonald had ambitions for the 2008 cox Plate but pulled the plug when Weekend Hussler failed in the Caulfield Cup a week earlier.
However, the trainer dismissed suggestions the 2040 metres of the Cox Plate would be too far.
"Everyone said he didn't stay in the Caulfield Cup, but he stayed for 2200 metres of it so the Cox Plate shouldn't be a problem," McDonald said.
"We deliberately kept him to 1600 metres as a three-year-old so he would get a nice weight in the Caulfield Cup but he ended up as topweight which didn't help."
The trainer said Weekend Hussler had put on 30 kilograms since the spring, six of them in the past few weeks he has been back in the stable.
McDonald visited Dubai last year when he started planning the trip and was impressed with the facilities.
"We checked it all out and it all looks good for him," he said.
Mcdonald's visit to Rosehill was also good with Needlebox winning over 1500 metres and Rolling Stock running third over the same distance.