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By Ray Hickson

It’s not lost on Chad Schofield the connection his family name has with top class Perth sprinters.

Chad Schofield (Pic: Steve Hart)

A bit over a decade ago Chad’s father Glyn formed a strong association with Hay List, the super WA sprinter who was Black Caviar’s great rival, so he can’t help but wonder what Bustling, the latest star from the west, might produce in the east.

The three-year-old was the first horse locked in for the $20 million TAB Everest when he was purchased by a group including slot holders Max Whitby and Neil Werrett and joined the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr stable.

So Bustling has a bit of expectation on his shoulders in the Group 2 $300,000 James Squire Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

“I knew the horse’s form and the quick times he was running over in Perth but I didn’t really know what to expect,’’ Schofield said.

“He’s not an overly big horse but when you ride him he gives the most beautiful feel. He’s very exciting and I can’t wait to see what he’s got under the bonnet on Saturday.

“My dad found a pretty good sprinter from Perth in Hay List, hopefully Bustling’s mine.”

Bustling, $5 with TAB on Friday and $17 in the Everest market, won four of his five starts in Perth including the Group 2 Karrakatta Plate (1200m) and Group 3 WA Sires’ (1400m).

He made his Sydney debut winning a 900m trial at Rosehill early last week and that was Schofield’s first opportunity to get to know the gelding.

“He’s still a young horse, he’s by no means small but he’s not large,’’ he said.

“As soon as you get over his neck and sit on top of him he rides like a big horse.

“He was nice and relaxed with me, he only did what he had to but it was enough and he backed it up with the time he ran.

“I was quite surprised how quick he went in that trial because he was just coasting along and doing what he had to.”

With a TAB Everest slot already secured, there’s no pressure on Bustling to make any kind of statement in the Run To The Rose but clearly there’s an expectation that he’ll perform.

Schofield is confident he’ll be able to make some use of barrier two and doesn’t believe he needs to lead at all costs.

“It’s a good draw, we know what Storm Boy is going to do and that draw gives us options,’’ he said.

“He’s a well mannered horse with a lovely temperament, he was pretty easy to ride in the trial and his runs in Perth suggest that too.

“He looks like you can jump him out, bang him into a spot up on the pace and then he’ll come back and take a breath when you need him to.”

Clear Proof is another three-year-old Schofield has plenty of time for and he’s looking forward to the John Thompson-trained colt stepping up in distance in the Group 3 $250,000 Precise Air Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m).

A surprise winner on debut as a $101 chance at Kensington in mid-July, Clear Proof proved it wasn’t a fluke with a strong finishing second in the Rosebud a month later.

Bustling wins a Rosehill trial on September 5

“He’s a very high quality horse. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s good looking and has a beautiful action,’’ he said.

“John kept bringing him through slowly and steadily and put the blinkers on at his debut and he won at 100/1. He kept telling me how good the horse was in his trackwork and he showed it on debut.

“Then to step up so much in class and run a good second to Gatsby’s showed he’s on a steep upward trajectory.

“He’s improving quickly and I expect him to be a lot more comfortable over seven furlongs.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting