Husson Eagle will return to the races in the 2015 Magic Millions 3YO&4YO Classic at Ballarat tomorrow, but trainer Patrick Payne admits that the promising gelding has not had an ideal preparation.
Husson Eagle will return to the races at Ballarat tomorrow. Photo by: Adrienne Bicknell
Husson Eagle has not been seen at the races since he finished at the tail of the field in the Listed A.R. Creswick Series Final (1200m) at Flemington on July 11 and he did not impress Payne with his performance in a barrier trial at Cranbourne on November 9, while his track work has been inconsistent.
Payne told Racing Ahead that he is hopeful that it was the hot weather that plagued Husson Eagle in his barrier trial and he believes that the four-year-old is capable of produced a strong effort fresh in the 2015 Ballarat Magic Millions Classic tomorrow.
“I am reasonably happy with him,” Payne said.
“He is normally very good fresh, but I will say that we gave him an easy trial at Cranbourne a couple of Thursdays ago and he didn’t trial as well as he should have.
“We worked him at Ballarat again on Monday morning and I thought he was a little bit plain again, but what we are putting it down to is maybe the heat.
“In this cooler weather the last couple of days he is really jumping out of his skin and his blood profile is excellent.
“The forecast is for a fairly cool day tomorrow and that should suit him.”
While Payne is not thrilled with the physical condition of Husson Eagle ahead of the Ballarat Magic Millions Classic, he was thrilled when the gelding was allocated barrier five earlier this week.
Payne believes that jockey Mark Zahra will have plenty of options, but he expects him to settle Husson Eagle just behind the speed in the early stages of the race.
“There looks to be good speed in the race and he has a beautiful gate to track up in,” Zahra said
“He normally likes to settle in the first half and he should track up and get a really nice run from there.”
Husson Eagle is set to press on to the 2015 Magic Millions Wyong 3YO & 4YO Stakes on December 15 before he potentially heads to the Magic Millions Meeting on the Gold Coast.
Husson Eagle is currently available at 2015 Magic Millions Classic odds of $5.50 and he is on the second line of betting behind clear favourite Wild Rain ($2.70).
