A player who was a one-time Melbourne Cup hopeful could make his Australian debut during the Autumn Carnival.
German-bred Loft topped the Melbourne Cup markets in 2022 after winning a Grade 2 race in the US but missed out shortly after landing in Australia.
A tendon injury forced Loft to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation program before joining coaches Ben, J.D. and Will Hayes last year.
Will Hayes said the camp's patience was likely to see Loft take to the racetrack for the first time in 18 months in the coming weeks.
“We were raised on the motto ‘patience is a virtue,’ and he certainly experienced that,” Hayes said.
“It's a credit to the ownership group, who have been fantastic in giving him every opportunity to get back to racing.”
Hayes said the stable gave Loft good grounding last year before selecting the winner of three out of 12 entries to set him up for 2024.
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Loft had raced at Flemington earlier this month and showed promising signs that the six-year-old will be racing during the autumn.
“We got to a decent level of fitness in the spring,” Hayes said.
“The people who rehabilitated him did a great job because he came to us with a good base of fitness.
“We prepared him for trial before we decided to go further and report him again.
“We built it back up heading into the fall.
“He's going well now and we think he'll finally get to the races.”
Hayes said Loft would target the longer races, given the gelding is a dual Group Two winner over 3200 metres.
“Being one of the favorites for the Melbourne Cup one day, we think he will gravitate towards the remaining Classics,” Hayes said.
Originally published as one-off Melbourne Cup favorite Loft is set to make his Australian debut for Ben, JD and Will Hayes
