ASM, Doncaster for I’m Thunderstruck?

- Angus Boyd

OTI Racing’s exciting four-year-old I’m Thunderstruck is back preparing for his autumn campaign, where the son of Shocking’s probable targets are two of Australia’s great 1600-metre races, The All-Star Mile and the Doncaster Mile.

“I actually saw the horse yesterday,” OTI CEO Terry Henderson said.

“He’s put on a lot of muscle, in fact, he doesn’t look a heavy horse, but he’s weighing far more than he did last prep, he looks like a far more mature horse than he did early in spring, which is not untypical of Shockings. He looked fantastic.

“He started work yesterday, he’ll have three works’ work at Leneva Park, and then he’ll head down to Cranbourne in three weeks’ time.”

Henderson said that the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained gelding is likely to have a lead-up run at Caulfield in February before tackling The All-Star Mile at Flemington.

It’s been a massive year for I’m Thunderstruck, who started off 2021 by winning on debut at Caulfield and finished it by taking out the Group 1 Toorak Handicap and The Golden Eagle.

However, Henderson isn’t getting carried away with what he’s expecting from his talented galloper in the autumn.

“With a gelding like this fellow, you would think that he’ll improve,” he said.

“Whether he improves two per cent or 20 per cent, you just don’t know.

“He is physically more mature, that’s for sure.”

This article was written by Edward Sadler and can be read in full through Racing.com here.