Turn Me Loose will make the trip to Australia to contest the 2016 Orr Stakes after he impressed onlookers with his performance in a barrier trial at Avondale this morning.
Turn Me Loose took out both the Crystal Mile and Emirates Stakes during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Turn Me Loose contested the opening barrier trial of the morning over 1200 metres, which included last year’s Rosehill Guineas winner Volkstok’n’barrell, and he showed his typical early speed to record a comfortable win.
Trainer Murray Baker was happy with the performance of Turn Me Loose in the barrier trial and he confirmed that the Iffraaj entire will return to the races in the Group 1 Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 13.
“He ran at the Avondale trials over 1200 metres and he won well,” Baker told Racing Ahead.
“He beat Volkstok’n’barrell and there were some handy horses in it.
“I don’t know if he has improved, but he is going well and I am happy with that.
“He may take a race because he always has seemed to need a race in his preps to get going, but we have him on the way up, which is the main thing.
“That is still the plan and I think that he goes over on Sunday.”
Baker is confident that Turn Me Loose will shape up again at weight-for-age level during the autumn and he is said that the four-year-old will press on to the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield a fortnight later before he potentially heads to Sydney for the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) and the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
“We think that he is certainly up to weight-for-age class and he proved that at Moonee Valley,” Baker said.
“He is a big strong horse and we hope that he will get 2000, but you never know.
“That (the Queen Elizabeth Stakes) is the plan, but he has never raced right-handed in his 11 race starts.
“He has trialed about three times and today it was right-handed, so we have no worried about him going right-handed.
“If he goes well in Melbourne we will take him up to Sydney.”
Turn Me Loose is currently available at 2016 Queen Elizabeth Stakes odds of $17 with Ladbrokes, while Winx ($3.80) is a dominant favourite from Criterion ($11), Highland Reel ($11), Mongolian Khan ($11), Preferment ($15), Press Statement ($15), First Seal ($17), Gailo Chop ($17), Kermadec ($17) and Tarzino ($17).
