Dothraki started his 2014 Queensland Winter Racing Carnival campaign with a solid win in the Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas and trainer Gerald Ryan is expecting the talented colt to produce an ever stronger performance in the 2014 Fred Best Classicat Doomben on Saturday.
Dothraki will be chasing his second straight win when he contests the 2014 Fred Best Classic at Doomben this weekend. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Dothraki returned to the races with a third place finish in the Listed Gosford Guineas (1200m) on April 6 and finished a fair fifth in the Group 2 Royal Sovereign Stakes at Royal Randwick on April 19 before returning to winning form in the Gold Coast Guineas on May 3.
Ryan told Racing Ahead that Dothraki has taken plenty of benefit out of his run in the Gold Coast Guineas and is confident that he will produce an improved effort on a dry track in the Fred Best Classic this weekend.
“He is going well and he is a good horse; he proved that up in Melbourne during the spring and he has raced well in good company here in Sydney,” Ryan said.
“He has trained on good and he will appreciate being back on top of the ground, because he can’t handle the wet ground and the young bloke said on Tuesday morning that he didn’t think he handled the ground when he was working with Angel Of Mercy.
“That was more credit to his win at the Gold Coast, because he doesn’t life shifting ground, and he is good honest horse.
“This is the same type of race, but a bit harder and he hasn’t got a soft draw this week, but the horse has probably improved.”
Ryan revealed that Dothraki has taken a while to settle into his new stable environment at the Gold Coast before he ran in the Gold Coast Guineas, but said that the colt had no issues coming out of the race and is in a good mental state heading into the Fred Best Classic on Saturday.
“He went up to the Gold Coast on the Wednesday and he was awful,” Ryan said.
“The first couple of days up there he just wouldn’t settle down at all and he wanted to have sex with everything that walked past him.
“Since the race he has settled down and got back to the mode that he was in Sydney and in Melbourne.
“I think that he will run a better race on Saturday then he ran on the Gold Coast.”
Dothraki is currently available at 2014 Fred Best Classic odds of $6; with Hucklebuck a dominant favourite at a quote of $2.80.
