Trainer John O’Shea has revealed that San Diego could head to the 2015 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick on April 4 after he returned to racing with an outstanding victory in the Bosch Blue Handicap at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon.
San Diego could hardly have been more impressive in his return to racing at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon. Photo by: Steve Hart
San Diego was returning to the races for the first time since he suffered a tendon injury when he finished eighth in the 2014 edition of the Group 3 CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on February 15, but there was plenty of money for the Exceed And Excel gelding after he impressed in two barrier trials.
Mahican looked as though he had the race won, but San Diego absolutely flew home late in the final stages to get his nose in front in the shadows of the post.
O’Shea was quick to pay credit to the Godolphin staff that had done plenty of work to get San Diego back into racing condition and while he doesn’t think that the four-year-old will get over a staying trip this prep, he is hopeful that the gelding could pop up in a race like the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m).
“All the credit must go to our staff at Osborne Park,” O’Shea said.
“He has back in a number of times for rehabilitation and he has been in work out there a number of times.
“Paul Reid and his team have just done an outstanding job to get him here in one piece.
“I am just learning about him and this is the first time that I have really had a crack at him.
“He is not a horse that I gallop a lot because he has had a tendon, so we just had to bring him here on trust that we had him as fit as we could have him without doing much work.
“Obviously he has raced in good company prior to this preparation and I think that he probably just hangs on a bit too much to get beyond a mile, so we will just try and keep a bit of speed in his legs.
“If he was to graduate to a Doncaster or something later on that would probably be the epitome of where he ends up.”
San Diego finished second behind Polanski in the 2013 edition of the Group 3 Norman Robinson Stakes (2000m) before he finished a disappointing 12th behind the Robbie Laing-trained stayer in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington.
