Hot Snitzel will be looking to continue their good form into the Coolmore Stud Stakes

His win first up in the Brian Crowley Stakes was pretty incredible and Hot Snitzel will be looking to continue that form into this weekend’s Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington.

Having his first start for 125 days Hot Snitzel worked hard to battle for the lead in the early stages of the race and had used plenty of energy by the time they turned for home on the slow Randwick surface.

He was challenged for the lead with more than 200m to go and looked gone but he managed to find that extra gear and keep battling to the line.

In the end he only got up by a nose from Combat Kitty but the improvement he’ll take out of it fitness wise as well as the courage he showed under pressure stacks up brilliantly for this weekend.

Of course there is the little issue of running into Sepoy as well as the trip to the straight six at Flemington but trainer Gerald Ryan says he’s in the perfect condition to win.

“He hasn’t missed a beat, got down here last Wednesday morning…since Friday hasn’t missed a beat,” he said.

Like most observers Ryan was stocked with what he saw at Randwick.

“Showed a lot of guts and determination, the trip to Queensland as a two year old really helped him,” he said.

Ryan does have some reservations about going to the Flemington 1200 for the first time but says Hot Snitzel has coped with change valiantly before.

“Down the straight, that can probably catch some horses out that haven’t seen it before,” he said.

“He hadn’t seen the Gold Coast before, he went there and won by six.”

There’s a big difference between a Gold Coast Listed race and a Flemington Group 1 though and if you compare the form of Hot Snitzel to Sepoy in the Golden Slipper he needs to make up around seven lengths.

The fact is though  he’s a completely different horse now to what he was then so there’s a chance he just might have.

Hugh Bowman will pick up the ride in the Coolmore after confusion saw him miss the job last start.

“Hugh will ride him, was suppose to ride him in the Brian Crowley but there was a mix up,” he said.

“He’s won on him in Queensland and run second in the Group 1 (TJ Smith) up there so he knows the horse.”