Haptic showed that he could be in for a strong 2015 Spring Racing Carnival campaign when he led from start to finish in a barrier trial at Royal Randwick this morning.
Haptic led from start to finish in a barrier trial at Royal Randwick this morning. Photo by: Steve Hart
Haptic contested the sixth barrier trial of the morning over 1050 metres and he was taken straight to the lead in the early stages of the trial to take up the running from Clash Of Clans and Raphael’s Cat.
The Exceed And Excel gelding was kept under a strong hold, but he was still full of running and he cruised to a very impressive victory from Raphael’s Cat and Furnaces.
Haptic was having his second barrier trial this preparation after finishing second behind Water Diviner in a barrier trial over 1050 metres at Royal Randwick on July 20 and trainer John O’Shea said that he would look to send the Lonhro Plate winner to Melbourne for the early three-year-olds races during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival.
“He ran nice time,” O’Shea told Racing Ahead.
“He has definitely come back stronger and he appreciated the long spell from the autumn where he was relatively successful.
“We thought that we would get him up and going early and he might be a nice horse that we can take down to Melbourne early in the spring and see if he can be effective down there.”
Haptic’s stablemate Furnaces was caught wide and at the tail of the field in the early stages of the barrier trial, but he was still able to find the line strongly in the final stages to finish third.
Furnaces was touted as a Golden Slipper contender when he made his racing debut with a dominant six lengths win in the Primo Moraitis Plate (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on October 25, but he finished second in both the Lonhro Plate and the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on March 7 before she finished sixth in the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 21 and he returned to winning form in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) at Royal Randwick on April 6.
Holler was the other Godolphin-owned runner in the barrier trial and he just missed the placings in his first race start since he was beaten as a short-priced favourite in the Australian Jewels Liquidators Plate (1100m) at Royal Randwick on June 6.
Haptic recorded two wins from his three starts as a two-year-old and was only beaten when he finished 12th in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens on March 21.
