Highwayman looks likely to be form part of Joseph O'Brien's party for the Lexus Melbourne Cup - but the trainer says it's too early to say whether Saffie Osborne will be in the frame to ride him.
The pair made history at Doncaster on Saturday when the jockey became the first female rider to win a British Classic.
The trainer was asked on Monday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast whether the three-year-old is now part of his Flemington team and he said: "We’ll see how he is over the next week then we’ll discuss it with his ownership group and see what everybody would like to do, assuming he’s well, but I think it would be quite possible he will join that group now."
And in terms of the Doncaster-winning rider partnering him, or another member of the squad out there, he added: “It’s a bit early to say because the weights aren’t out for any of the races yet and Dylan (Browne McMonagle) will decide what he wants to ride and what weight he can do, so all of those things will be discussed and decided closer to the time.”
Highwayman has made remarkable progress since starting his career in May, the form figures for his first four runs in maidens through May and June reading 9,15,11,8.
O'Brien admits he's been surprised by the speed of his progress, saying: "He came to us earlier in the year and hadn’t been in training as a two-year-old. During the beginning of the season, it was pretty obvious he was quite green and the horse was going to be a late-maturer. As he got racing it took him a couple of runs to get the hang of things then he really started improving so rapidly over his last four runs.
“He has a good pedigree and is a good-looking horse and it’s not a fluke he’s as good as he is but I wouldn’t have expected him to have come so far, so fast. He’s a stayer that has a bit of speed and who knows where his bottom will be.”
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