Weetwood Handicap favourite Coolring will be on trial to chase more Winter Carnival riches if he can win the Toowoomba Turf Club’s feature sprint on Saturday.
Coolring, above, will run the short priced favourite in the Weetwood Handicap at Toowoomba. Photo by Steve Hart.
Sydney sprinter Coolring heads the market order for the Listed $150,000 Audi Centre Toowoomba Weetwood Handicap (1200m) at $2.10 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
Trainer Bjorn Baker said that he has made no further plans for the Sebring five year old but an impressive winning performance could see Coolring extend his stay in Queensland.
“Coolring is here for the Weetwood only at this stage but if he goes well we’ll see what else might be around for him,” Baker told Racing Queensland News.
“But it’s one step at a time and we’ll just see how he goes before thinking about going any further,”
“His last run behind Malaguerra was very good. He just rolled out and let him through.”
Coolring was stepping up to Group company for the first time when third to the exciting Victorian sprinter Malaguerra in the Group 3 $150,000 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 26.
The Lee and Anthony Freedman trained Malaguerra is listed as one of the favourites for the Group 1 $600,000 Schweppes All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday so the form line looks strong.
Baker was happy when Coolring came up with the inside barrier and veteran jockey Jeff Lloyd will be having his first ride for the Warwick Farm trainer.
But Lloyd does have some history with the Baker family and was aboard Nom Du Jeu when he won the 2008 Group 1 $1.8m Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick for Baker’s father Murray.
“Jeff hasn’t ridden for me but he did win the Australian Derby on Nom Du Jeu for my father,” Baker said.
Brisbane’s premier trainer and former Toowoomba boy Tony Gollan has already scratched his two Weetwood Handicap acceptors after both drew wide barriers.
Topweight Casual Choice drew fourteen while Whiskey Allround came up with the extreme outside gate of nineteen in the final field of fourteen plus five emergencies.
With the two Gollan horses out of the way, the first and second emergencies, Kempelly and G’day Old Mate have made their way into the field.
“I have made it very clear the Weetwood was a race I would love to win. I am a Toowoomba boy and we all want to win the race,” Gollan said.
“But I trained in Toowoomba before moving to Brisbane and I know the track. It is very hard to win from outside barriers at the 1200 metres.”
Weetwood Handicap market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $2.10 Coolring, $7 Jumbo Prince, $9 Pillar Of Creation, $11 Hard Stride, Rock Royalty, $12 Le Val $14 Pinch River, $15 Adorabubble, $19 Flying Riddle, $21 Choice Bro, I Am Boss, $51 Mr Favulous, $61 Double Impact, Just A Perla, $81 G’day Old Mate, $101 Kempelly, Sarisara.
