The widely travelled Pheidon remains solid in the betting for the Group 1 $500,000 TAB Touch – Kingston Town Classic (1800m) at Ascot on Saturday.
Pheidon will be lining up in his fourth State when he tackles the Kingston Town Classic at Ascot. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
The Gai Waterhouse trained Pheidon will be lining up in his fourth State since commencing his racing career at Wyong twelve months ago and still has a strong band of followers.
As well as racing in New South Wales, Pheidon has gone around in Queensland and Victoria and has firmed from $11 to $10 with Ladbrokes.com.au for his debut in Western Australia.
The typical Waterhouse on pace runner is saddling up in his second Group 1 contest and Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds is confident the four year old will do her purple and white stars racing colours proud.
“His career spans now under twelve months but after Saturday he will have raced in four states and raced well,” Martin told the Sportsman.
“He is just a very tough individual, the stable has done an excellent job in keeping him up for this long and racing so well.”
“He handles the work well, he puts himself in the firing line all the time and he’s very hard to run down.”
Pheidon’s other Group 1 appearance was a brave sixth behind He’s Your Man in the $500,000 The Star Epsom (1600m) at Randwick at the end of the Sydney Spring Carnival.
As usual the Al Maher gelding led the field into the straight and showed his tenacious fighting ability to be beaten less than two lengths.
Waterhouse then shipped Pheidon to her Flemington stables and he was quick to get back into the winner’s stall with an all the way win in the $100,000 City Jeep Handicap (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 24.
At his next run he ran a gallant third in the Listed $150,000 James Boag’s Premium Stakes (1800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day and then fought all the way to the line before being pipped on the post by Zabisco in the Group 3 $150,000 mypunter.com Eclipse Stakes (1800m) at Sandown on November 15.
Waterhouse’s stable jockey Tommy Berry will also be making the trip to the West, replacing Craig Williams, and even though he has only ridden Pheidon once for a second to Arabian Gold in the Group 3 $150,000 Johnnie Walker Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on April 26, he has kept a close eye on all his performances.
“Tom knows the horse well and he understands the best plan of action with him so from my perspective, I think Pheidon is an excellent winning chance,” Martin said.
The Chris Waller trained Moriarty is at the top of the market order for the Kingston Town Classic at $4 ahead of three year old Disposition at $6.50 and Group 1 Railway Stakes winner Elite Belle at $7 while Railway Stakes runner up Balmont Girl is at $7.50 just ahead of W.A Guineas winner Rommel at $9
