Bel Sprinter Faces Autumn Group 1 Challenge

Bel Sprinter will be tested in tomorrow’s Listed United Arab Emirates Stakes at Caulfield to see if he is up to contesting some of the Group 1 races this autumn.

The four-year-old gelding has only been beaten on one occasion in his five career starts, when finishing a close second to Lone Rock in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis Quality last spring.

Bel Sprinter will be ridden by regular jockey Ben Melham in the $100,000 race tomorrow.

Melham is eager to see how Bel Sprinter copes in his first-up challenge.

“It will be interesting to see how the first couple of furlongs unfolds,” Melham said.

“Obviously I am concerned he might want to get racing a little bit fresh.

“He is fit and well but he’s not fully wound up yet and whatever he does he is going to improve on.”

The jockey admits that Bel Sprinter might have a hard time keeping his impressive record intact in the 1,000 metre race.

“He still does want to go quite keenly,” Melham said.

“On Saturday there is a little bit of speed drawn outside him with Definitely Ready and probably Faster Son and we’ve got to weigh up what we want to do there.

“Ideally, I would like to pop in behind those two but he’s not a horse you can sort of pull around.

“You have to go with him a little bit.”

Bel Sprinter has now earned close to $200,000 in prize money during his short horse racing career.

The Bel Esprit gelding is trained at Mornington by trained Jason Warren.

Bel Sprinter, who is a half-brother to the great Black Caviar, is one of 10 horses in tomorrow’s United Arab Emirates Stakes field.

 

 

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