Talented sprinter Lord Of The Sky will head to the 2014 Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield On July 26 after he scored a dominant victory in the Group 3 John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Lord Of The Sky was too strong for the rest of the field in the John Monash Stakes. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Lord Of The Sky started the John Monash Stakes as a short-priced favourite and he took up the running in the early stages of the race before racing away from the rest of the field when asked for an extra effort by jockey Dwayne Dunn to score a comfortable four lengths win over Le Bonsir and Riziz.
Trainer Robbie Laing admitted that he not particularly confident heading into the John Monash Stakes, but he was pleased with the effort of the Danerich entire and confirmed that the rising four-year-old would contest the Bletchingly Stakes before potentially making his Group 1 debut in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 30.
“I saw him fail at 1100 in his first start and we’ve kept him away from 1100, but he was dominant today,” Laing told the media after the race.
“On the corner I thought he’s either going to find or get run over but I must apologise to the horse, I doubt him all the time but it was very good.
“We’ll just space his runs.
“He’s a very good horse and he can improve.
“If he wins the Bletchingly, I’d love to run him in the Memsie.”
Dunn was riding Lord Of The Sky in a race for the first time and he had no problems getting the three-year-old to the front after he jumped well from the inside gate.
The veteran jockey believes that Lord Of The Sky still has plenty of improvement in front of him and admits that the talented speedster will face tougher fields in the Bletchingly Stakes, Memsie Stakes and any other Group level races that he may contest during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival.
“He stepped so cleanly and was able to dictate from the front,” Dunn said.
“He’s still a kid and he’s still got plenty of upside.
“Realistically, you would not run into a field like that through the spring, but he’s been placed really well and he’s been given a chance to win those races without too much pressure.”
Lord Of The Sky has now scored five wins from eight starts and has a commanding record of four victories from five race starts at Caulfield.
