Trust In A Gust will have the chance to record a third straight win at Group level after he was included in the 2014 Crystal Mile Field.
Trust In A Gust will run in the 2014 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley this weekend. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Trust In A Gust started his 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with two wins from three starts and made his Group 1 debut with a tough victory over Dissident in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 28 to deliver trainer Darren Weir his maiden win at the highest level of racing in Melbourne.
The Keep The Faith entire carried four and a half kilograms more weight in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600n), but that was not able to stop the four-year-old becoming the first horse since Barely A Moment in 2005 to complete the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes/Toorak Handicap double.
Speediness finished a close second behind Trust In A Gust in the Toorak Handicap and he will have the chance to turn-the-tables on the two-time Group 1 winner in the Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The Testa Rossa gelding started his spring preparation with a fast-finishing fourth in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington on September 13 and he produced arguably the worst performance of his career in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes before returning to his best in the Toorak Handicap.
Nigel Blackiston-trained Desert Jeuney produced the best performance of his career to finish third in the Toorak Handicap and will also back-up in the Crystal Mile, while Bull Point, Atlante and Akavoroun come through the same form line.
One of the most interesting runners in the 2014 Crystal Mile field is John Thompson-trained Hooked, who will be racing in Melbourne for the first time in his career.
Hooked started his spring campaign with fair performances in the Canterbury Hurlstone RSL Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on August 16 and the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on September 6 before he returned to winning form in the Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1500m) at Newcastle on September 17 and finished an unlucky third in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 4.
Liberty’s Choice finished a credible seventh in the Epsom Handicap and is also set to run at Moonee Valley this weekend, while the 2014 Crystal Mile field is rounded out by Havana Rey, who debuted for the stable of Peter Morgan and Craig Widdison with a close second in the Melbourne Signage Concepts Handicap (1500m) at Moonee Valley on September 26.
