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There’d be no more stimulated horse in Matthew Dale’s stable than Ruban Bleu.
Matthew Dale says the eight-year-old has become a bit of a busybody around his Goulburn stable and it's translated into the consistent record he's built since coming into the fold early last year.
And he can think of no better reward than earning eligibility for the $3m Big Dance in November if Ruban Bleu can produce a career best performance in Sunday's $50,000 Bankstown Sports Club Forbes Cup (1600m).
"We changed his box in the stable and he's right next to the whiteboard where work is done and people are often standing,'' Dale said.
"He used to be a horse that didn't like human attention but he just loves it and puts his head over and gets pats.
"He's been in work for around about 12 months and he continues to be happy and thrive. We keep him fresh and chop and change his routine. He is just a happy horse."
Ruban Bleu narrowly missed picking up his Big Dance eligibility when he ran an unlucky third in the Narrandera Cup (1600m) on July 16.
Dale concedes the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Kangaroo Court will be hard to beat at Forbes but said he'd be just as happy to find his way into the $750,000 Little Dance (1600m) on the Big Dance undercard.
"He was unlucky at Narrandera, he was shunted out on the point of the corner and the eventual winner cut the corner and got the dream run,'' Dale said.
"His run was outstanding, it was a winning performance without luck.
"He will need a bit of luck again, Forbes can play a little hard to make ground like it did last year. But it's the right race at the right time.
"He's no world beater but he's super consistent and the Little Dance is the race where he'd be better placed."
While Dale knows Ruban Bleu has his mind on the job he'd love to get inside Blitzar's head and see what's happening but is confident if he's switched on he's a chance to break a drought in the Amazing Ben Hall Bullet Handicap (1200m).
Then gelding has been in Dale's care for nine starts, his last win was at Cowra back in March last year when trained by Chris Heywood.
Blitzar was forced back to last in his latest run at Canterbury on July 12 but warmed up late to run sixth behind Miss Kojiki.
"He just hasn't won for a long time and you just wonder where their desire is coming from. But he is racing well,'' Dale said.
"You can ride him more forward but traditionally he's raced more consistently taking a drop. So I'm going to wait and see what happens with the field and make my plans on the run with how the track is playing."
Meanwhile, reigning Kosciuszko champ Front Page has settled into Dale's stable having been transferred from the retired Geoff Duryea and is just in the trot and canter stage of his preparation.
"He arrived in good order and looks good and he's still about five weeks from a jump out,'' he said.
Front Page is a $6 chance with TAB in the $2m Kosciuszko, run on Everest Day.
