The Group 1 $3m Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 22 is on the radar for the Godolphin owned Scottish after the four year old won at Newbury in England on the weekend.
Trip To Paris, above, finished third to Scottish at Newbury in England. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Charlie Appleby trained Scottish scored a one and three quarter lengths win in the Listed £37,000 Steventon Stakes over one mile and two furlongs and there are early plans in motion to get the gelding to Melbourne for the 2016 Spring Carnival.
“The plan was always to potentially go down to Australia with him. We will see whether to give him another run beforehand but we want to go down there for the Cox Plate or possibly the Mackinnon Stakes,” Appleby said.
Scottish, who races in the Godolphin royal blue colours, was having his first start since a first up third to Time Test in Group 3 £65,000 Brigadier Gerard Stakes (1 mile, 2 furlongs) at Sandown Park on May 26 and Appleby wasn’t surprised with the winning performance.
“It was a great performance from Scottish and we came to Newbury very confident. Conditions suited us in terms of ground and trip, and he has come on for his run at Sandown,”Appleby said.
Trip To Paris could also be heading down under for a second time after the Ed Dunlop trained stayer ran third to Scottish at his first run for seven months due to a tendon injury he suffered in Japan when fourteenth to Shonan Pandora Group 1 US$5.2m Japan Cup (2400m) at Tokyo on November 29 last year.
Trip To Paris created a great impression during the 2015 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival when he finished second to Mongolian Khan in the Group 1 $3m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield followed by a fourth to Prince Of Penzance in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3.
“I’m very pleased,” Dunlop said.
“They went a steady pace over an insufficient distance for him. He’s had a serious injury so it all depends on how he comes out of the race.
“Touch wood, he seems fine, but we’ll see what we do now. The Goodwood Cup is coming up quite quickly so it could be that we wait for the Lonsdale Cup at York.
“He’d been back to Australia after running in Japan and had very good treatment from the team out there. He’s only just starting his season now so it’s too soon to be making longer-term plans.”
Trip To Paris is currently listed at $26 for both the 2016 Caulfield Cup and the 2016 Melbourne Cup with Ladbrokes.com.au.
