The highlighted doesn't make sense to me. Firstly, how do you know he could've gone quicker? Secondly, if he won. he's guaranteed a Hunter Cup start. To me, looking after the horse is winning and getting the guarantee and as a consequence being able to tailor the lead up with no pressure to do anything in particular beforehand.
The fact that SU is 11 is neither here nor there. Like a footballer, if he's out on the park then he's good to go against all comers.