Lee Freedman is confident that British import Exospheric will be at peak fitness when he lines up for the 2016 Caulfield Cup (2400m) this weekend, in what will be his first competitive appearance in Australia.
Trainer Lee Freedman is pleased with Exospheric ahead of Saturday’s Caulfield Cup 2016. Photo: Taron Clarke
Exospheric has been a strong and consistent performer throughout his entire racing career since debuting for prominent trainer Sir Michael Stoute in 2015; posting four wins and a further two minors through only ten starts.
Conceding that he is yet to learn the intricacies of the horse, Freedman told Racing Ahead that he has been pleased with everything he has seen of Exospheric and is confident that he will be at the peak of his fitness in the Caulfield Cup first-up.
“In the short period of time we’ve had the horse and not really knowing him, I’m pleased with him,” Freedman said.
“He’s been eating well and he’s very relaxed here and happy, and his work was sound this morning so everything’s pretty good.
“He worked very well over 1400m and worked really nicely, and ran home very sharply. I think he’s where we need him for Saturday, he’s certainly fit enough.
“I won’t do much with him now. You can’t improve on fitness by trying to make them fitter.”
Exospheric is one of a number of notable international raiders that were this morning confirmed in the Caulfield Cup 2016 field, and Freedman believes that the form will stack up well in the race.
“To be fair, you see very horses here at quarantine that don’t settle in very well. They all know each other and are all very happy,” he said.
“This horse has English weight-for-age form in the good races. The Jockey Club Stakes and the Juddmonte, which would to my mind be a little short for him, but he still ran very well.
“In terms of Sir Isaac Newton and Scottish, these horses have all met before and there isn’t much between them. So I guess it’s who gets there on the day and enjoys the race.”
Exospheric won three of his six starts upon debuting to racing in 2015, and made a commendable transition to black type company when third behind Scottish and Mutakayyef in the Listed Doonside Cup (2011m).
Returning to racing this year for success in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes (2414m), the Beat Hollow entire failed when eighth in the Group 2 Hardwicke Sakes (2414m), but responded positively for third in the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes (2414m) and fifth in the Group 1 Juddmonte International (2092m) most recently.
Ladbrokes Australia is currently offering Exospheric at 2016 Caulfield Cup odds of $10.
