“There is nowhere to hide and there is no going back in racing. The really good callers, it’s not just call out names, they paint a picture and emotionally get you into a race.”

Emotion isn’t a problem for Basheer when it comes to Icebath, who he owns with twin brother Simon and good friend David McGrath and Tass Roufus.

She has won more than $2 million in prizemoney from her 24 starts for the group, which has included seconds in the Golden Eagle and the Doncaster. She has only won on three occasions, the last in benchmark company at this meeting last year.

“When she races it’s totally out of my control, I’m more nervous whenever she runs than being behind the microphone,” Basheer said. “I’m in control then.

“We never thought we would have a horse like her. We dreamed of it but to have her run in the races she has run in is amazing.

“The frustrating thing is she hasn’t won one yet.

“Not just for us but for [trainer] Brad Widdup, who is with her every day and could have done better. He deserves to be the winner in a race like The Invitation as much as she doesn’t.”

Icebath is the best horse Widdup has had since starting training in his own right a couple of years. He makes sure she is presented at her best every time she goes to track and the care from icing her leg her day to physio care.

The frustration of being so close has been tempered by prizemoney. But in the end, racing is about winning.

“I would love to have a Golden Eagle trophy and especially a Doncaster trophy, that was my dream race, but when I look at the bank balance she has done a lot for us,” Widdup said.

“This spring is the best order she has been in, and she just has had no luck. I just want the luck to fall our way for a change.

“We had her at her top for the Epsom, and she didn’t get any luck in the straight, but the way she pulled up after that was amazing.

“This race was the next target, and then we draw the outside. Hopefully, that’s the bad luck out the way, and she gets the right run without getting stopped in the straight.”

Basheer is hoping it will be a return to the winner’s stall for Icebath, even though he will have to watch from Melbourne. He admits his neighbours would know of his disappointment as Icebath has had little luck in the Golden Pendant and Epsom at her past two runs.

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“The Epsom was a crushing watch,” Basheer said. “You could see she was ready to go and had nowhere to go.

“The last uninterrupted run she had was in the benchmark 78 she won by four lengths on this day last year.

“If you think of bad luck in racing, she has probably had as much bad luck as four or five top-class horses. We have never once been disappointed in her, we have been disappointed in the result but not in her.

“We can only hope it changes this time.”