Weir Hoping Puissance De Lune Will Be On-Pace In Turnbull Stakes

Trainer Darren Weir is hopeful that jockey Glen Boss will have Puissance De Lune  towards the front of the field in the early stages of the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Puissance De Lune will take on a star-studded field in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

Puissance De Lune will take on a star-studded field in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Puissance De Lune has been ridden at the tail of the field in his three starts this preparation but Weir is looking to see the five-year-old return to the on-pace style that saw him win the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) in dominant fashion last spring.

“He certainly won’t be going back; he will be taking a position in the race from the gate,” Weir said on RSN.

“He is ready to take a position as well; he is fit and well.

“I will be hoping he will be in the first three or four.”

Puissance De Lune finished strongly in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m), recording impressive sectionals from the 1000 metre mark, but Weir admitted that he would have liked to have seen the Bendigo Cup winner run through the line a little bit stronger.

“I thought he ran well; maybe the last fifty yards he didn’t really charge through the line but he wasn’t knocking him about too much,” Weir said.

“When you look at the sectionals his last 1000 he had to run quiet quick.

“The important thing is that he pulled up well.”

Weir has had to manage Puissance De Lune carefully this campaign, to have him competitive in Group 1 races while not over-taxing him before the Melbourne Cup (3200m), but is happy with where the son of Shamardal is at in this stages of his preparation heading into the Turnbull Stakes this weekend.

“He has done a lot of work, obviously you don’t do a lot of galloping work with him, but he has a lot of miles into his legs and he is getting the races into his legs,” Weir said.

“It is just important that the horse gets the right amount of work into him and stays sound.

“Both of those things are alright at the moment.

“I am hoping that he runs well Saturday and I reckon everything is where it needs to be at the moment.

“This Saturday is the race that he needs to be running well in.”

If Puissance De Lune is successful on Saturday it will be Weir’s first ever win at Group 1 level in Victoria.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.