Trainer Lloyd Kennewell has revealed that Deiheros will be set for the 2015 Stradbroke Handicap if he wins the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Deiheros will have the chance to return to racing in the 2015 Fred Best Classic at Doomben this weekend. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Deiheros was included in the nominations for both the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) and the Fred Best Classic that will be held at Doomben this weekend, but Kennewell said that the Bon Hoffa gelding will tackle horses his own age this weekend before potentially making his Group 1 debut in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) at Doomben on June 5.
“He is a bit untapped and he keeps stepping up every time I ask him to do something,” Kennewell told Racing Ahead.
“If he wins the Fred Best Classic on Saturday then he will definitely go into the Stradbroke and I am hoping to get him and maybe another one into the Stradbroke.
“He looks the ideal horse, with the race at Doomben this year it looks like you have to be more of an on-pacer, 1350 suits those suit of horses and he would have no weight on his back in a race like that.
“Obviously natural progression if he did win that race is that he will go into the Stradbroke and if he doesn’t he will probably go into the Queensland Guineas on the same day.”
Deiheros recorded the biggest win of his racing career to date when he took out the $1 Magic Millions Guineas (1400m) at the Gold Coast on January 10 and he has performed well without winning in two race starts this preparation.
The three-year-old returned to racing with a credible seventh in the Listed Redelva Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville on April 18 and he finished a close third behind the talented Kuro in the Listed Mick Dittman Plate (1200m) at Doomben on May 9.
Kennewell believes that Deiheros has trained on strongly coming out of the Mick Dittman Plate and he is confident that the three-year-old will be at peak fitness when he contests the 2015 Fred Best Classic this weekend.
“He was still only about 90 to 95 percent fit and Ric thought that he probably blew out right at the end of the race,” Kennewell said.
“He only got beaten half a length and he has derived plenty of benefit out of it.”
Deiheros is currently available at 2015 Stradbroke Handicap odds of $34 with Ladbrokes, while Srikandi ($8) is a narrow favourite from Black Heart Bart ($9), Knoydart ($11) and Lucky Hussler ($11).
