No Doomben 10,000 For Trust In A Gust

Swettenham Stud Principal Adam Sangster has confirmed that Trust In A Gust will not contest the 2015 Doomben 10,000 or the Stradbroke Handicap and could begin his new career as a stallion without another race start.

Trust In A Gust may have had the final race start of his career after connections ruled him out of the 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Trust In A Gust may have had the final race start of his career after connections ruled him out of the 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Trust In A Gust was set to make the trip to Brisbane for the Group 1 BTC Cup (1200m), but he suffered a minor leg injury when he attempted to board a flight last Friday morning and trainer Darren Weir elected to take him back to his Ballarat stable.

Connections were confident that Trust In A Gust would be able to head to Brisbane for the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) at Doomben on May 23 and the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) at the same venue on June 6, but Sangster revealed overnight that a trip to Brisbane was now off the agenda – although he stressed that this did not necessarily mean that the four-year-old would not race again.

“In the best interests of the horse we will not be continuing with this campaign,” Sangster told News Limited.

“No decision about his future has been made.”

The decision by Swettenham Stud is a blow to Racing Queensland officials as Trust In A Gust was expected to be one of the major draw cards for the 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival following his impressive 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign.

Trust In A Gust started his spring preparation with a narrow victory in the Jeep Don’t Hold Back Handicap (1200m) at Moonee Valley on August 23 and he finished a close second behind Atlante in the Listed Drummond Golf Stakes (1200m) at the same venue on September 6 before he returned to winning form in the Le Pine Funerals Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield on September 20.

The Keep The Faith entire made his debut at Group 1 level in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 28 and he fought off likely Horse Of The Year Dissident to record a very narrow victory before he proved that win was no fluke when he carried 56.5 kilograms to victory in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at the same venue a fortnight later.

Srikandi remains on top of the 2015 Doomben 10,000 betting market with Ladbrokes at a quote of $7.50 from unlikely starter Lucky Hussler ($8), Team Hawkes-trained Our Boy Malachi ($8.50) and the Godolphin duo of Generalife ($9.50) and Knoydart ($10).

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.