Trainer John O’Shea has confirmed that Haptic will return to the races in the 2015 San Domenico Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Haptic took out the Lonhro Plate during the 2015 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Photo by: Steve Hart
Haptic was included in the nominations for both the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) in Sydney and the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) in Melbourne, but O’Shea confirmed that the Exceed And Excel gelding will remain in Sydney for a clash with the likes of Vancouver and Redzel.
O’Shea told Sky Racing HQ that he has been most impressed with the preparation of Haptic and he was very happy with the effort of the three-year-old in a barrier trial over 1050 metres at Royal Randwick on July 31.
“We already have one in the race at Melbourne,” O’Shea said.
“I just thought that it was an option of putting him in there if something was a bit untoward in Sydney or the ground was a bit wet to have that option, but as long as it is dry on Friday and Saturday we should be right.
“He has done really well.
“As the spring has gone on, he has improved each time and I thought his second trial was quite good.
“He is still quite wooly in his coat and he is probably not going to peak for another couple of runs, but I thought he trialed particularly well and the two-year-old colt form looks to be holding up and looks to be considerably stronger than the winter form.
“The colts were stronger than the fillies in the autumn and they are a good bunch of horses.
“He is pretty effective up to 1100 and the pressure in the Slipper wasn’t too his advantage because there was plenty of pressure up front.
“He has appreciate the nice long spell, he has been gelded, he has been effective at home and we are hoping that he will run well on Saturday.”
While O’Shea is happy with the form of Haptic, he admits that the gelding faces a tough challenge in the 2015 San Domenico Stakes and he believes that Golden Slipper winner Vancouver could prove very hard to beat.
O’Shea said that he was impressed with the performance of Vancouver in a barrier trial at Royal Randwick on July 31 and he is confident that the form coming out of the Golden Slipper will be very strong during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival.
“I was quite flattered by the strength of Vancouver’s trial,” O’Shea said.
“We have a lot of Medaglia’s here and when they trial well without blinkers, you know they are going to improve dramatically without blinkers.
“That he trialed so very well without them is indicative that he is in great form.
“He was far and away the best two-year-old last season and that normally stands in good form going into the San Domenico.
“That two-year-old form will be relevant going into Saturday.”
