Trevieres will make his long awaited return to the races in the 2015 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday and co-trainer Craig Widdison is hopeful that the imported galloper can run well fresh in the Group 1 event.
Trevieres has not been seen at the races since he finished a close second behind Solzhenitsyn in the 2013 Toorak Handicap. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Trevieres made his racing debut in France in 2010 and he made his Australian racing debut with a most impressive second place finish in the 2013 edition of the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on October 12, but he suffered a joint injury in the run and has not been seen at the races since.
Widdison told Racing Ahead that the stable gave Trevieres plenty of time to get back to full fitness and he is hopeful that the seven-year-old will not be disgraced in the 2015 Memsie Stakes after he performed well in two barrier trials over 800 metres at Cranbourne on August 10 and August 21.
“He had joint issues after that run, so he had a good long break and we didn’t think that he was quite right in the autumn,” Widdison said.
“We just weren’t happy with him, so we decided to stop again and bring him back and this time he has been good.
“He is an older horse, with a long break and it just took a while to get him going again.
“He has had a couple of trials now and they have only been soft trials, but he looks like he is a happy horse and his work at home has been good.
“He has had a long time off and he is going into a fairly tough race, but I think that he could run a race fresh.
“If he could show that he still wants to participate at the races and finish off and show us something we would be happy with that.”
Stephen Baster partnered Trevieres in his two barrier trials ahead of his return to racing and Widdison confirmed that the talented hoop will ride the Gold Away gelding in the 2015 Memsie Stakes.
Widdison expects Baster to settle Trevieres at the tail of the field in the early stages of the Memsie Stakes, but he believes that the gelding should be able to hit the line strongly when asked for an extra effort,
“He will stick with him,” Widdison said.
“He has had a couple of rides on him now.
“He is a pretty push-button sort of horse and I think that he will run well.”
The Morgan and Widdison stable are chasing their first win in the Memsie Stakes after finishing second with Casual Pass in the 2006 edition of the race.
