Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker is yet to confirm if Music Magnate will use the Group 2 $200,000 Ellyce Galvin Victory Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday as his final lead up run for the Doomben 10000.
Trainer Bjorn Baker is yet to confirm a start for Music Magnate, above, in the Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm. Photo by Steve Hart.
Music Magnate has drawn the outside barrier in the small seven horse field for the Victory Stakes and Baker said that he would study the race field before sending Music Magnate north in search of back to back wins in the Group 1 $700,000 James Boag’s Premium Doomben 10000 (1200m) at Doomben on May 13.
“At this stage, I’m undecided and I’m probably leaning to staying at home,” Baker told Racing Queensland News.
“But if I change my mind we can still leave by tomorrow night in plenty of time for the race.
“I think he’s going as good now as when he won the Doomben 10000 last year but the only thing is he doesn’t like a shifty track.”
The Brisbane Racing Club has admitted that the Eagle Farm racing surface still hasn’t settled down after a major reconstruction was completed twelve months and Baker won’t be concerned if Music Magnate misses the Victory Stakes and heads straight to the Doomben 10000 without another run.
“He goes well at Doomben and if he doesn’t run on Saturday he’ll go straight into the Doomben 10,000 without another run,” Baker said.
“After that he’ll go into the Kingsford Smith Cup and Stradbroke again.”
The Doomben 10000 has been brought forward with a reduction in distance from 1350m to 1200m for this year’s revamped Winter Carnival while the BTC Cup has had a name chance, a distance change and a venue change and will now be known as the Group 1 $700,000 Darley Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) to be run at Eagle Farm on May 27.
The Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) will remain unchanged and will be run at Eagle Farm on June 10.
If Baker decides to send Music Magnate around in the Victory Stakes, Brisbane’s leading jockey Jeff Lloyd will take over from Jason Collett who was aboard the five year old last start when twelfth to Russian Revolution on a heavy 10 track in the Group 1 $700,000 Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill on March 18.
Baker said that the Music Magnate has freshened up well since The Galaxy and looked to be on his way back to his best with a six lengths win in an 803m barrier trial at Warwick Farm on April 21.
“He’s going well and won a trial at Warwick Farm last week,” Baker said.
The Gary Moore trained Takedown is also heading towards the Doomben 10000 and has drawn barrier five in the Victory Stakes with regular rider Tim Clark in the saddle again.
Takedown claimed a Group 1 victory when he won the $1m Crown Perth-Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot during the 2016 Perth Summer Carnival and then performed well in Hong Kong when sixth to Aerovelocity in the Group 1 HK$18.5m Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on December 11.
At his only run since Hong Kong Takedown finished eighth to Redzel on a heavy 8 track in the Group 3 $150,000 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 15.
