The stars were out in force at Cranbourne this morning, as is usual for this time of the year with spring racing upon us.
Last start 10.5 length Group 1 Queensland Derby winner Warmonger was one of those stars and he made a sparkling return impression, winning the opening trial containing other Group 1 feature contenders such as Place du Carrousel and Circle of Fire. Physically, the horse appeared in great order and looks to have developed significantly during his winter spell. Importantly, his work was spot on and we couldn’t have asked for anything more than we saw this morning.
Settling back through the early stages, Warmonger started to increase his tempo three-wide through the middle stages of the trial before working home nicely down the outside of the group. Without undue pressure being applied, he went to his workmates and headed the group on the line.
Warmonger (1st – light blue cap) and Amade (6th – dark blue cap)
Blake Shinn, on board for this morning’s workout, reported that our horse was strong through the line and his residual fitness from his Queensland Derby preparation will hold him in good stead for his Group 1 preparation ahead, which involves a first-up return in the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 14. After that, it is planned for Warmonger to race in the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 5 before the Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 19. Any decision on a start in the Melbourne Cup will be made after the Caulfield Cup.
Also stepping out in Heat 1 was grand old galloper Amade. While his spring preparation will not reach the Group 1 heights of Warmonger, it promises to be a most exciting one for his connections that will take in races such as the G3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on September 21 and the G3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 23 en route to the Listed Pakenham Cup in December.
In today’s workout, Amade was left a little flatfooted when his quality opposition turned for home, but he worked through his gears beautifully towards the line. He will have another trial as he winds up for that Naturalism Stakes return and trained Phillip Stokes was indeed stoked with Amade’s first trial effort this morning.
Our third trialler this morning at Cranbourne was the talented and progressive Karburan, for the Busuttin/Young team. This European import mixed his form in his first preparation but is expected to put his best foot forward during his second preparation with further time to acclimatize under his belt. He matched motors with the A&S Freedman-trained Arqana through the early and middle stages, going to the line stride for stride with that galloper and with the Lisa Jones-trained Preliminaries finishing best down the outside.
Karburan finished 3rd in Cranbourne trial (OTI silks)
The horse hung in a little over the concluding stages, but all being well the horse is ready to commence his preparation over a mile now and to perform well. There are no lucrative initial targets for Karburan – he will start in his grade and will be a race-by-race proposition before more ambitious plans are developed.