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Former kiwi trainer Trent Busuttin was left to reflect the vagaries of racing after Anaheim finished an unlucky fifth in Saturday’s Gr. 1 South Australian Derby.

Busuttin, who prepares the Fastnet Rock colt with partner Natalie Young from their Cranbourne base, was confident he had the promising three-year-old at fever pitch for the A$600,000 feature but saw his plans turn to custard when the colt was slow away from a mid-field barrier draw.

“They say barriers win races and I guess you saw that on Saturday,” he confided.

“The horse was a little tardy away and found himself in the last few on the fence for most of the race. He never really saw daylight at any stage and made up a huge amount of ground to finish where he did.

“Our initial plan had been to ride him handy but that went out the window and in the final wash-up you can say he was more than a little unlucky.

“He will go to the paddock now and have a good break. We think he has the makings of a top stayer so hopefully he will come out as a four-year-old and show us what he is capable of.”

Busuttin was also philosophical about the performances of two recent New Zealand additions to the stable in Tessastock and (Our) Peaky Blinders who finished well back in their Australian debuts.

“Tessastock was a little bit of a mystery as Leith (Innes) said she travelled beautifully during the race but had nothing in the run home,” he noted.

“He did say she was making a noise when he pulled her up and thinks she may have choked down on something. We’ll take a look at her to make sure she’s okay as she is a lovely mare and had travelled over here in super condition.

“Peaky Blinders was a head scratcher although I’m not sure it was the best ride you will ever see.

“He pretty much flopped out of the gates and then was wide so I guess you can forgive him. We’ll get him up to 1600 metres for his next run and I would expect to see plenty of improvement.”

Busuttin also had time to reflect on a hectic nine months since he and Young made the move from Cambridge to Cranbourne with their young family.

“The time has flown by and we’ve settled in well here,” he said.

“The kids are very happy which makes a massive difference and we are finding our groove now.

“I think we’ve trained over 30 winners including a couple of stakes winners so we are pleased with that.

“It’s pretty much a stable filled with a lot of young horses so there is a lot to look forward to. We have a great mix of local and New Zealand owners who have been very supportive so that has also helped immensely.”

When pressed on his future stable stars Busuttin nominated Gr. 1 Australian Derby winner Tavago to remain the team’s flag bearer during his next campaign while he holds high hopes for two-year-old filly Garrard when she commences a three-year-old campaign in the spring.