Dual Spring Carnival Group 1 winner Trust In A Gust will be aimed towards the Group 1 $2m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm during the Brisbane Winter Carnival in 2015.
A Stradbroke Handicap start during the Brisbane Winter Carnival is on the agenda from Trust In A Gust. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Trust In A Gust stepped up to Group 1 company during the Caulfield section of the Spring Carnival to score a narrow win over the Peter Moody trained Dissident in the $400,000 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) on September 28.
The Darren Weir trained four year old then repeated that effort with a win over Speediness in the Group 1 $400,000 David Jones NBCF Toorak Handicap (1600m) on October 11.
But Weir had to call a halt to Trust In A Gust’s Spring Carnival campaign after he had to be scratched from the Group 2 $200,000 Schweppes Crystal Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 because of a hoof injury and was sent for break.
Senior part owner David Speechley expects Trust In A Gust to take a lot of benefit from his time out and said the Weir had mapped out an Autumn and Winter Carnival plan that will include one run in Sydney before heading to Brisbane for the Stradbroke Handicap.
“A spell will do him the world of good and when he comes back he’s going to have about eight weeks in Warrnambool before he gets him to Ballarat, and then he’s going to go to Sydney for probably one run in one of the weight-for-ages and then we are going to head to Queensland,” Speechley told Racing.com.
“He will be set for a Brisbane winter campaign; that could take him to the Stradbroke or that could take him to some weight-for-age races. The handicaps are probably a little but if-y, depending on what weight he gets.
“The Stradbroke would be fantastic because it’s worth $2 million this year.”
Weir has reported that Trust In A Gust is enjoying his break and recovering from the minor injuries that saw him head to the paddock early.
“We’ll give him a quick spell and we’ll bring him back in for the autumn and we’ll see what we do,” Weir said.
“He’s good, there’s nothing wrong with him, he just wants a good spell, he wants a couple of months off; he obviously had a crook foot and a bit of a joint issue but nothing significant.”
Trust In A Gust took his prizemoney to over $1m after his two Group 1 victories which took his wins total to ten from seventeen starts.
