Managing owner Bruce Slade has revealed that imported stayer Tres Blue will have just one race start during his 2014 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival campaign.
Tres Blue finished a disappointing 22nd in the 2013 Melbourne Cup. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Tres Blue was purchased by Slade’s Round Table Racing during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival and made his racing debut in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), but overraced in the early stages of the race and faded badly to finish 22nd.
The Anabaa Blue entire made his first public appearance since the Melbourne Cup when he worked home strongly to finish fifth in a barrier trial over 1000 metres at Royal Randwick yesterday and Slade told Racing Ahead this morning that he has been happy with the progress of the three-year-old.
“He is terrific,” Slade said.
“Gai has really taken the horse under her wing and he has really been experiencing every single side of Australia racing, through going to race days and having the course proper gallop at Randwick yesterday.
“Yesterday I think that all that hard work from the team really showed.
“He relaxed beautifully for Tim Clarke and took a nice gap up the straight and his last furlong was his best, so it was about as good as we could have hoped.”
Gai Waterhouse gave Fiorente only one race start during the 2013 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, where he flashed home late to finish third in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m), and she is set to follow the same path with Tres Blue in 2014.
Slade said that Tres Blue would contest either the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Royal Randwick on March 15 or the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 29 before returning to the spelling paddock ahead of his spring preparation.
“We are not going to do too much with him this campaign,” Slade said.
“It is a similar to Fiorente; we will have a pretty light autumn with him and it is more about getting him happy and comfortable.
“In the Melbourne Cup he sort of let himself down more than anything, the occasion got to him, and this prep has been about bringing him along nice and slowly and letting him enjoy himself.
“We might give him one or two runs in the autumn and then look towards the spring again.
“There is the Canterbury Stakes over 1300 metres, but that might be a little bit too sharp so Gai is considering a race like the George Ryder.
“He will just be asked to run along and hit the line strongly and we will go from there.”
Tres Blue recorded four wins, including the Group 2 Grand Prix De Deauville (2500m), from ten starts when trained in France by Ha Pantall.
