Keys Confident Alibaba Ready For Caulfield Debut Test
Elle
Dec 4th 2025
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Trainer Ken Keys has literally been through hordes of young horses trying to pick out the bright ones, which not only goes to show how adept he has become with the eye of experience, but his gut tells him almost immediately if he has a top-class juvenile on his hands. In his whole career he has not been exposed to a high number of brilliant juveniles, yet he is confident that Alibaba is one of the finest he has gotten ready. The colt will be making his debut test in the Caulfield Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) on Saturday and will be ridden by Ken and Kasey Keys.
Keys’ earlier success with emerging talent came with Saloon Rule, the filly who claimed the Merson Cooper in 1988. Afterwards she would have been the most backed runner in the Blue Diamond Stakes, however her campaign was interrupted as she had a bad start in the feature and finished last. Despite that mishap, her sparkling debut test still made a big impact with Keys, and since then he has been able to use her as a benchmark for other new juveniles coming through.
Since Alibaba’s arrival at the Cranbourne stable, he has been a standout and has given his trainer the confidence that he might be able to reach the level of the best two-year-olds he has worked with. “It’s not that we’ve had a lot, but of the ones we’ve had, he’s up there with the best,” Keys said. His comments carried a measured tone, shaped by past experience guiding horses with natural talent. “Once you’ve had one good two-year-old, you know what is required. We’ve had a lot that aren’t her (Saloon Rule), but he’s up there. He’s pretty natural, and I don’t want to build him up too far, but when you see him, you’ll go ‘wow’, he’s one of those horses.”
Early in spring, Alibaba won a jump-out at Cranbourne in September, prompting Keys to give him a short break to maintain his freshness. The colt then headed to the Caulfield Heath trials last week and again impressed when asked to extend late. Keys admitted he gave careful thought to the next step immediately after the trial. “Originally, I was planning on putting him out after the trial, but I went and sat in the tractor for the rest of the afternoon, and I had too much time to think,” he said.
The Merson Cooper Stakes is a race that has been a source of animals that have gone on to make a big career. To name a few, there are Palm Angel (2025), Little Brose (2022), Anamoe (2020), Hanseatic (2019), Long Leaf (2019), Thurlow (2014), Marveen (2007) and Freestyle (2004) which have won the race previously.
Every year the race is a first signal of talent coming up and Keys is optimistic that Alibaba will be the next juvenile to make a successful step beyond this event.
One area Keys wants to see improvement is Alibaba’s behaviour in the mounting yard. While his work on the track has been sound, his manners before his Caulfield Heath trial left the trainer cautious. “He did a few things wrong in the mounting yard the other day, he was a bit naughty, so who knows what his manners are going to be like, but on the track, he was good,” Keys said. Having jockey Craig Williams offer similar feedback is an encouraging sign for the stable. “It’s good when you think what you’ve got, and Craig gives you a similar report.”
As the stable looks toward Saturday, Keys has made it clear that he does not want to look too far ahead. Alibaba was not nominated for February’s Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, a decision made mid-year before the colt had fully revealed his ability. The stable did, however, lodge an entry for the Golden Slipper at Rosehill in March, leaving the door open for a Sydney campaign if the horse continues to progress. “I didn’t enter him in the Diamond, as you don’t know back in June, but he’s in the Golden Slipper, so who knows,” Keys said. “That’s part of the dream.”
Saturday’s debut test will give the stable its first genuine look at how Alibaba handles raceday conditions. His initial performance trials were quite promising and his trainer is very confident about the colt’s innate ability, so the Merson Cooper Stakes is coming up as a significant test. Keys is still careful not to hype the situation too much, however, his considerable lifetime experience with up-and-coming talents makes it almost certain that he recognizes something exceptional in Alibaba’s early work.
For now, all focus shifts to Caulfield, where Saturday’s race will provide the next clear indication of what Alibaba might turn out to be as the season goes on.
