Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller is set to change the Spring Carnival plans for stable star Boban and miss this week’s Group 2 $175,000 Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday if Sydney’s wet weather continues heading into the weekend.
Boban might miss the Warwick Stakes if Sydney's wet weather continues. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Boban resumed for the Spring Carnival with an eye catching fourth to Sweet Idea in the Group 2 $175,000 McGrath Estate Agents Missile Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on August 9.
The triple Group 1 winner was a conspicuous last as the field left the barriers, but made up many lengths in the straight to finished less than a length from the Gai Waterhouse trained mare.
But Waller is not prepared to risk Boban on a wet track and could return to Caulfield for the Group 1 $400,000 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 30.
Boban scored over the same course and distance as the Memsie Stakes when he took out the Group 3 $150,000 Sportingbet Moonga Stakes in October during last year’s Spring Carnival.
“The weather is a query with him,” Waller told AAP.
“If it was slow or worse we could save him for the Memsie. That looks like a nice race for him.”
Regular rider Glyn Schofield was happy with the first up effort of Boban, but was disappointed that he was unable to jump on equal terms with the rest of the field.
“He was propping in the barriers and the starter wasn’t happy to wait much longer and let us go when we weren’t ready,” told AAP.
“He didn’t give us the opportunity to start on level terms because we were on our back legs.”
“At that distance and tempo he was too far out of his ground to win.”
Waller will nominate Boban for the Warwick Stakes, along with stablemates Sacred Falls and Royal Descent, and will wait and see how the weather is later in the week before deciding if he will go around at Randwick.
All of Boban’s three Group 1 wins have been over the 1600m and Waller was keen to target the weight for age races over that distance during the Spring Carnival.
“Boban bled in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes so we are going to take him along quietly and keep him to races up to a mile,” Waller said last week.
“He will probably target the weight-for-age miles and might need a couple of runs to find his best.”
The Bernardini gelding scored his initial Group 1 win in the 2013 $500,000 The Star Epsom (1600m) at Randwick in October and followed that up with a win in the Group 1 $1m Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
And back to 1600m during this year’s Sydney Autumn Carnival Boban produced his trademark flying finish to take out the Group 1 $500,000 Chipping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm on March 8.
But the weather could dictate Boban’s Spring program with a start in the 1400m weight for age Memsie Stakes now on the agenda.
