Trainer Darren Weir has set his sights on winning more Group 1 races after he secured his second Melbourne trainer’s premiership with a winning double at Geelong on Sunday.
Trainer Darren Weir has won the Melbourne trainer’s premiership for the second time by winning the 2014 – 2015 title. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Weir took his metropolitan winning tally for the 2014 – 2015 racing season to seventy-nine, seven ahead of four time premiership winning trainer Peter Moody on seventy-two.
Weir has had a tremendous season and has a real possibility of training three hundred winners for season after his Geelong double, Strong Hand and Burning Front, took his overall winners in all states across the country to two hundred and ninety-five.
“It’s been an amazing season. It’s the best season we’ve had,” Weir said.
“We can’t really expect to win more races than we have (this season).”
“You’d be dreaming to think you could do that.
“So obviously we want to be competitive in better races. That’s the goal we’ve got now.”
As well as training a double at Geelong, Weir also saddled up a winning double at Caulfield on Saturday with two year old Starsi in the $80,000 David Hopwood Handicap (1400m) and Refulgent in the $150,000 VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m).
And Weir was also in the winner’s circle at Morphettville on Saturday on three occasions with Try Four in the $40,000 Schweppes Handicap (2035m), Conwell in the $40,000 Mitty’s Handicap (1600m) and with Stylish Miss in the $40,000 James Boag’s Handicap (1600m).
Dual Group 1 winner Trust In A Gust will spearhead Weir’s Spring Carnival team after the four year old took out the Group 1 $400,000 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and the Group 1 $400,000 David Jones NBCF Toorak Handicap (1600m), both at Caulfield, during the 2014 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Weir had to abandon a Queensland Winter Carnival campaign with Trust In a Gust who get injured while being loaded onto the plane to head north but the premiership winning trainer has reported that the Keep The Faith stallion has recovered and will be resume racing in a fortnight.
“He’ll resume in two weeks,” Weir told AAP.
“He’ll run in the 1200 at Flemington and then he’ll run in the first Group One, the Memsie.
“Brad (Rawiller) galloped him on Saturday and said he’s in good order.”
The $400,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) will be run at Caulfield on August 29 and is the first Group 1 race of the new racing season.
Trust In A Gust’s stablemate Lucky Hussler will be searching for another Group 1 win after winning the $400,000 Brown Baldwin William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley during the Autumn Carnival.
Weir said that Lucky Hussler is also pleasing him on the tracks but is still a few weeks off resuming and will be targeted towards the Group 1 $1m Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on November 7.
“He’s good but he’s a little bit further behind,” Weir said.
“The Emirates is his goal.”
