But on Monday afternoon at the Bathurst Paceway when Castalong Shadow lines up in a 2,260 meters heat of the Gold Chalice series, Simpson will no longer hold those fears.

Instead he will be focused on qualifying Castalong Shadow – the surprise winner of last year’s Gold Crown – for the $55,000 Group 2 Gold Chalice final for three-year-old colts and geldings.

Simpson will go from barrier four with the colt, who has recovered from a virus earlier in the season.

“He didn’t really show it as a virus, he just wasn’t racing up to scratch. So I had bloods done on him and had him scoped and it showed a slight virus, nothing drastic,” Simpson said.

“I had a few restless nights I can tell you, trying to work out what I was doing wrong and why he wasn’t going up to scratch.

“It was disappointing not to see him run at his top and when I did eventually get the bloods in and had him scoped, that at last gave me a perspective on why he wasn’t going right.

“He had antibiotics to treat the virus and it still took him a little while to be right, but once he did get back on track you could feel it in his character, he was going a lot keener. I was relieved, absolutely, especially at this time of year.”