Trainer Jim Conlan has confirmed that Rekindled Interest will head to Sydney to contest the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 5.

Rekindled Interest is set to contest the Group 1 Epsom Handicap at Royal Randwick on October 5. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Rekindled Interest returned to the races for the first time in almost eleven months in the Listed Drummond Golf Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday and finished second despite having to carry the top weight of 61kg.

Conlan told Sky Racing HQ that we was delighted with the performance and said the Redoute’s Choice gelding did enough to earn a trip to Sydney for a return to Group 1 racing.

“It is all systems go for him at this stage,” Conlan said.

“He has come through his race brilliantly.

“I really was confident that he was going to run a big race because he just seemed so well at home.

“I was surprised how well he travelled in that race over six furlongs; he jumped out and was very keen to be involved in it before hitting the line hard.

“I think he is going every bit as good as he has ever been going.”

Rekindled Interest did not race at his best during the 2012 Spring Racing Carnival, with a third place finish behind Happy Trails and Green Moon in the Group 2 Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) his best effort, but was found to be suffering from a number of issues after he finished at the tail of the field in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m).

Conlan said the six-year-old had two different surgeries during his time away from the races and both appear to have made a big difference.

“We had a few things at home that we have been dealing with and we decided after the Cox Plate last year that we would address them aggressively and we had an operation on his knees and a wind operation as well,” the Mornington-based trainer said.

“Both of them seem to have had a very positive effect on him.”

Rekindled Interest will carry 54.5kg in the Epsom Handicap and be ridden by Stephen Baster.