Darren Weir has ruled out running Puissance De Lune in the Memsie Stakes and is looking to either the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes or Makybe Diva Stakes as the greys next target.
With the Cox Plate firmly on the agenda, the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) would provide a vital look at Moonee Valley under race pressure while the Makybe Diva (1600m), at Flemington, could be more valuable given its Group 1 status.
The Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes is run on September 14, which would allow four weeks between runs, and the Makybe Diva is run a week earlier on September 7.
“I would say for mine the Chin Nam, I would like to see him in a months time,” said jockey Glen Boss.
“It gives him a chance to go around the valley, I’m sure he will have the opportunity to go to the valley and have a gallop, I’m not sure of his plans, I’d like to see him go well spaced because he is up early, it is all about monitoring now.
“He will beach, race, beach, race, it is not rocket science, Darren Weir knows what he has got to do and he has got a horse he doesn’t have to bash to get to the races.
“He went to seven furlongs after one trial and was running through the line on Saturday.
“Everyone said he can’t win the Lawrence this early and win those races later but he isn’t going that traditional two weeks between runs. This horse is working towards the grand final, we just need to plod our path.”
Boss, always so confident, believes Puissance De Lune definitely has the stamina to win a Melbourne Cup despite being so briliant over 1400m first-up.
“He is a serious Cox Plate horse but what he did with me in the Queen Elizabeth last spring says to me he is a Melbourne Cup horse too because the further he gets in to his prep, he can stay, he has got a great set of lungs,” he said.
“The further he goes the quicker he gets off the bridle, he has better sectionals when he gets over a trip, it is a bit scary, maybe because he is a lot stronger now than he was he is probably very capable of sprinting over these shorter distance where he probably couldn’t have before.
“He has got that great ability, he waits for your next command, if I give him a rub out of the machines I could put him where I want, he has got that weight-for-age aspect completely covered.
“He has got sectionals of a Group 1 sprinter and he has shown that already, I say some stupid things at times, I am probably the minister for rash statements, he is one of those very exciting horses, if you set him a task he would run well in anything, no doubt.”
– TVN
