Mornington trainer Jason Warren is banking on a better preparation this campaign for his gun sprinter Bel Sprinter who will kick off his Spring Carnival in the Group 2 $200,000 Perri Cutten Caulfield Sprint (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Bel Sprinter is set to resume in the Caulfield Sprint at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.
Bel Sprinter is among the twenty-two sprinters nominated for the Open Handicap dash around Caulfield and will be having his first race start since undergoing a second throat operation.
The Bel Esprit seven year old failed to fire during the Autumn with five unplaced runs but Warren believes he is back on track following an impressive Cranbourne barrier trial win on October 6
and is hoping he can find the form that saw him win the 2013 Group 1 $350,000 Canterbury BMW Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill.
“He trialled really well, he wasn’t knocked around and I was very pleased with how he went and how he pulled up,” Warren told Racing .com.
“Ben Melham was pleased with the trial and he said the horse is breathing much better.
“I had decided not to trial him at the last set of Cranbourne trials because I wasn’t happy with his bloods but we rectified that and he didn’t really miss much work and he’s right on track for Caulfield.
Bel Sprinter will be having his first run since finishing tenth to Smokin’ Joey in the Group 1 $500,000 The Tapestry Wines Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on May 10 and Warren has earmarked the Group 1 $750,000 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot, Perth on November 22 as the seven year old’s main Spring target.
Warren is also considering a run in the Group 1 $1m Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington on November 8 before heading to the West.
“I like to try and give him three weeks between his first up run and his second up run so he may well end up running in the Darley Classic (1200m),” Warren said.
“Even though he’s probably not at his best down the straight, that race works out well timing-wise because it gives us around three weeks into the Winterbottom.”
“He will probably go to Western Australia and run in the Group 1 sprint over there.”
“That will be my target at this stage and how we get there, we will just see how he comes up.
Exciting Team Hawkes sprinter Deep Field is also nominated for the Caulfield Stakes but is likely to be kept in Sydney to run in the Listed $100,000 City Tattersall’s Club Lightning Handicap (1100m) at Randwick.
Deep Field is the winner of all his three race starts, his latest by five and half lengths in a mid-week at Canterbury, but if he handles the step up to Listed company successfully, could find himself on a float south for the tail end of the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Also among the Caulfield Stakes nominations are the Gai Waterhouse trained Group 1 winner Driefontein, 2013 Blue Diamond winner Miracles Of Life, Group 1 placed Unpretentious and the Peter Moody trained trio of Office Bearer, Spirts Dance and Thermal Current.
