Trainer Jason Warren has revealed that enigmatic galloper Bel Sprinter will have his next race start in the 2014 The Goodwood at Morphettville in Adelaide on May 10.
Bel Sprinter is chasing his first race win since he took out the 2013 The Galaxy in dominant fashion. Photo by: Steve Hart
Bel Sprinter jumped from the gates cleanly in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday, after missing the start in the Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 29, but never handled the rain affected going and beat home just a single runner.
“He just got bogged and never travelled in it at all,” Warren told RSN this morning
“The rain really hammered down all morning up there and the wet track was an even wetter track come his race.
“It was a non-event for us.”
Bel Sprinter started his autumn preparation with a ninth place finish in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on February 22 and returned to a semblance of his best form with a fourth place finish behind Villa Verde in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Royal Randwick on March 15 before finishing eighth in The Galaxy after missing the start.
Warren said that he has been happy with the form of Bel Sprinter this campaign and believes that he is a genuine winning chance on a dry track in The Goodwood in just under a month.
“At this stage he arrived back at Denistoun Park this morning and seems to have got through the run really well,” Warren said.
“He didn’t really knock him around and he will head to The Goodwood.
“We will go down there and hope for a firmer track and hopefully we can get him back in form.
“The horse has been going really well in Sydney and in his Challenge Stakes run he only got beat by a length there, running fourth in a good race.
“If he can run up to that, I would say that he would be quiet competitive in a Goodwood.”
Bel Sprinter has not been able to return to the form that he showed during his autumn preparation that was highlighted by a dominant win in The Galaxy, with a performance that saw him ranked just outside the top 100 in the 2013 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, and a second place finish behind leading Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine in Group 1 Krisflyer International Sprint (1200m) at Kranji in Sinapore.
