Patch Adams finished a close second behind Mahuta in the Carbine Club Stakes on Victoria Derby Day and trainer Terry O’Sullivan believes that the promising colt has improved ahead of the 2015 Sandown Guineas this weekend.
Steven Arnold has been booked to ride Patch Adams in the 2015 Sandown Guineas. Photo by: Adrienne Bricknell
Patch Adams recorded his maiden win art Horsham on August 2 and he produced competitive efforts in the Listed Pin & Win Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on September 12 and the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on October 2 before he ran-on against the pattern of the day to finish second behind Mahuta in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on October 31.
O’Sullivan was thrilled with the performance of Patch Adams in the Carbine Club Stakes and he told Racing Ahead that the three-year-old may even have come on slightly ahead of the 2015 Sandown Guineas.
“We are very happy with him and he has done very well since his run in the Carbine Club,” O’Sullivan said.
“It is onwards and upwards on Saturday.
“He has pulled up really well from that and hopefully he has even improved a little bit.
“I gave him a little break after the Stutt Stakes because he over raced – I think the night lights may have got to him and revved him up a little bit.
“We gave him a few days in the paddock and he came back in with the Carbine Club and the Sandown Guineas in mind.
“The track will really suit him and at this stage we are pretty happy with him.”
Patch Adams was quite aggressive in the early stages of his racing career and he showed an ability to over race, but he settled much better with the application of ear-muffs in the Carbine Club Stakes and O’Sullivan believes that the gear change has made a big difference to the racing temperament of the Dane Shadow colt ahead of the Sandown Guineas.
“The ear-muffs seem to help him relax a bit,” O’Sullivan said.
“Steven said he thought he got back a bit further than he wanted to, but he wasn’t game to give him a squeeze because he didn’t want to get him over racing.
“He ran home pretty strong, which was pretty hard to do on Derby Day at Flemington.”
The 2015 Sandown Guineas nominations were released yesterday and Patch Adams is set to take on the likes of Dal Cielo, Mahuta, Marky Mark, Don’t Doubt Mamma, The Grey Flash, Demonstrate, Gredington and He’s Our Rokkii.
