Co-trainer Paul Snowden believes that Shooting To Win is just as good as previous Caulfield Guineas winners Helmet and Long John.
Shooting To Win stamped himself as a Caulfield Guineas contender with a win in the Stan Fox Stakes. Photo by: Steve Hart
The Snowdens had plenty of success in the Caulfield Guineas as part of the Darley operation, taking out the race with Helmet in 2011 and Long John in 2013, and they believe that Shooting To Win is a genuine chance of delivering them their maiden Group 1 victory as their own training operation.
Helmet was considered one of the best horses prepared by Darley during the Snowden era, but Snowden told RSN this morning that Shooting To Win is just as good as the Exceed And Excel entire and still has plenty of improvement in front of him.
“He is as good as all of them, there is no doubt about that,” Snowden said.
“He has really good ability this horse and he still doesn’t know how good he is yet.
“You will probably see the best of him in the autumn and he is every bit as good as them.
“This bloke has a turn-of-foot and as long as he can begin well and he can settle in the first four or five and if he gets a draw that will allow him to do that than that is certainly going to make our job a lot easier.
“He has a really good turn-of-foot, he has always suggested that a mile is going to suit and he is a very relaxed colt.
“He has just a great attitude.”
Shooting To Win arrived in Melbourne on Sunday and Snowden said that the Northern Meteor colt had settled in to his new environment without any issues.
The rising trainers admits that handling the Melbourne way of going is a slight concern for Shooting To Win, who has raced exclusively in New South Wales during his racing career, but said that the three-year-old has not had any issues getting on the right leg during trackwork ahead of the Caulfield Guineas this weekend.
“I am really happy with him and he has settled in great,” Snowden said.
“He is a pretty gross colt and he is a good doer at home, so you have to keep a little bit of work up to him.
“James McDonald flew down this morning to ride him and he will ride him on Saturday and he gave him a massive wrap.
“He has rode him a fair few times at home, but he was extremely excited and I reckon that is going to be the way he will be leading into Saturday.
“It always is, especially a Sydney horse going to Caulfield is a hard thing to do.
“Ever since he won the Stan Fox he has gone the Melbourne way up home and he was on the right leg straight away down here.
“It is always an issue, but hopefully it is not on Saturday.”
Shooting To Win is currently available at 2014 Caulfield Guineas odds of $8 with Ladbrokes Australia following the announcement of the 2014 Caulfield Guineas field this morning, while Rich Enuff ($2.50) is a clear favourite from Almalad ($6.50) and Looks Like The Cat ($6.50).
