Trainer Stephen Farley has revealed that the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) is on the agenda for Sincero if he can return to his best form during the 2014 Autumn Racing Carnival.
Sincero is set to return to full-time track work in January next year. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Sincero spent about six weeks in the spelling paddock after running in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 5 and has now completed a month of pre-training at Farley’s property in Wyong.
Farley said that Sincero had used the time in the paddock to recover from some nagging injuries that plagued him during the spring and confirmed that the Umatilla gelding would resume full-time training next month to begin preparations for his autumn campaign.
“He’ll have a week to 10 days off now then I’ll bring him back over January and he’ll be back for the autumn,” Farley told TVN.
“He had an issue with a muscle behind the shoulder and a few other things, but he’s over all that now and doing very well.”
Sincero is a two-time Group 1 winner and has been competitive at the highest level of racing from 1400 metres right up to 2000 metres and Farley has not yet decided which races he will target with the six-year-old this preparation.
Farley said that he will wait until he sees what form Sincero is in before making a decision on what path his star galloper will follow during the spring but declared that he would love to see him take part in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“There are lots of options for a horse like him at his distance range,” Farley said.
“I’ll have him ready to trial at the end of January and we’ll see how he comes back.
“Mind you, if he’s going well why not have a throw-at-the-stumps for the Queen Elizabeth.”
Sincero spent almost ten months on the sidelines after finishing ninth in the 2012 Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) and failed to fire in three race starts during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival; finishing 13th in the Group 3 Tramway Stakes (1400m), eighth in the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) and 13th in the Epsom Handicap.
The Wyong-based galloper stamped himself as a Group 1 contender by winning the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) during the 2011 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and took out the George Main Stakes two starts later.
Sincero will be chasing his first win since he took out the 2012 Group 2 Memsie Stakes (1400m) by an impressive two lengths on September 1 last year.
