Dual Group 1 winning Japanese import Tosen Stardom is in doubt to run in the 2018 Group 1 $1.5m Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 10.
Tosen Stardom is unlikely to contest the 2018 Australian Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Trainer Darren Weir is contemplating a change in Autumn Carnival plans for Tosen Stardom who had a tough first up run when 11th to Hartnell in the Group 1 $500,000 Ladbrokes C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
Tosen Stadom is currently sharing the second line of betting at Ladbrokes.com.au for the Australian Cup at $6 with C.F. Orr Stakes winner Hartnell behind his stablemate Gailo Chop who heads the market order at $4.50.
Weir said that Tosen Stardom has taken longer than expected to recover from that tough first up run in the C.F. Orr Stakes and the seven year old could have his next start in the Group 2 $200,000 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on March 17 before heading to Sydney to continue his Autumn campaign.
“He’s alright now but it’s obviously not the ideal way to start a preparation,” Weir told RSN927’s Racing Pulse on Friday.
“He’ll be fine but we’ll just poke around with him and probably change plans a bit now and maybe go to the Blamey (Stakes) to give him some time to get over the run and then head up to Sydney for the Carnival.
“It (Australian Cup) is unlikely, I’m not set in concrete with that but knowing how horses need to have the first-up run to get to their goal, it wasn’t the ideal run so I’d say it will be hard to get to the Australian Cup in the right order.”
Weir also confirmed that Humidor won’t be given the chance to defend his crown in the Australian Cup after beating Jameka and Exospheric last year as the five year old is a little behind in his Autumn Carnival preparation and will kick off his campaign next week in the Group 1 $500,000 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
“He’s (Humidor) just a fortnight behind the rest of them,” Weir said.
“He’ll run next Saturday in the Futurity, go into the Blamey and then head up to Sydney.”
Tosen Stardom and Humidor are both nominated for the Group 1 $3m The Star Doncaster Mile (1600m) and the Group 1 $4m Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick over The Championships on April 7 and April 14.
Early betting for the 2018 Australian Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4.50 Gailo Chop, $6 Hartnell, Tosen Stardom, $10 Lord Fandango, Single Gaze, $11 Harlem, $13 Abbey Marie, Ambitious, Humidor, Almandin, $15 Bonneval, The Taj Mahal, $21 Kaonic, Prized Icon, Rekindling, Sully, Wait A Sec, $26 Comin’ Through, D’Argento, Homesman, Inference, Levendi, Odeon, Stampede, Ventura Storm, $34 or better the rest.
