Jess Tubbs thinks the “big baby” is finally becoming a serious racehorse.
The untapped Fighter Command underlined his development with a fantastic Brisbane Inter Dominion campaign last month, which included a heat win and fantastic fifth in that epic final won by Captains Mistress.
Now he’s back home with a string of feature race options in his own backyard over the next six months, starting with the Group 1 Victoria Cup on October 17.
While many of the stars of the Brisbane series had two or three weeks off, Tubbs settled on just one quiet week with Fighter Command, who will return to racing in a fascinating 1720m free-for-all at Melton on Saturday night.
“Two reasons, the first being how well he came through the racing and the whole Brisbane trip, he thrived on it,” Tubbs said. “The other is the fact he’s so big, I didn’t want him putting on too much weight and then having to get it off him again with the Victoria Cup not far away.
“As I said after the (Brisbane) series, he exceeded my expectations. To win a heat and run so well in such a strong final was fantastic.
“I was that impressed with how well he handled it all and just as thrilled how he’s come back home and seems full of himself.
“He’s come a long way from the big baby he was and has shown he is worthy of having a crack at these big races.
“I’m under no illusion where he sits, he’s not up with Leap To Fame and Captains Mistress, but he’s shown he’s in that bracket of really nice horses just beneath them.
“The Victoria Cup is the loose aim and we’re headed that way, but we’ve never rushed him and won’t start now. He’ll tell us closer to it if he should run in it or not.”
Fighter Command (gate 11) is one of three established stars in Saturday night’s ripper free-for-all. Eight-time Group 1 winner Catch A Wave (seven) and amazing veteran Bulletproof Boy (12) are the others.
Rising 12-year-old Bulletproof Boy will have his first start since a Perth trip, which culminated with a sixth in the Group 1 Fremantle Cup on April 24.
“He just seems like his old self. His work at home is as good as ever,” trainer Scott Ewen said.
“He’ll need the run this week and I couldn’t get a trial into him because they were at Geelong not Melton and the travel is a stretch.
“I’d say he’s about 85 per cent fit, so ‘Herbie’ (driver James Herbertson) will drive him quiet and it still wouldn’t surprise me if he rounded them up.
“It’s a good starting point over his favourite distance (1720m) and it gets a run into him before the Caduceus Classic ($50,000 on September 12). He’s obviously then headed for the Victoria Cup.”
Bulletproof Boy famously upset Leap To Fame in the build-up to last year’s Victoria Cup before finishing 10th in the Cup itself.
The gelding has raced 232 times for 53 wins and banked $1.025,736.
Catch A Wave, who boasts 28 wins and almost $2.3 million, is chasing his first win since scoring at Melton at on October 4, last year and has the benefit of a front row draw against his key rivals on Saturday night.
Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
PHOTO: Toby Coutts
