It’s not quite fork in the road territory for Franz Josef just yet but co-trainer Gerald Ryan would like to see the flashy chestnut show a return to form with the aid of a gear change at Rosehill on Saturday.
Ryan, who co-trains with Sterling Alexiou, said the gelding hasn’t been in a suitable race this campaign until the James Squire Handicap (1400m) which will be his third run in a campaign that started on Everest Day.
He returned in the Silver Eagle and was outpaced before having a wide run in the Ladies Day Cup at Hawkesbury a month ago but Ryan likes the set up and drop in grade, suggesting it’s the right scenario to improve.
Trainer Gerald Ryan
“I think in his first two runs there have been logical excuses,’’ Ryan said.
“There wasn’t an ideal race for him. It was always going to be hard to find a race in the spring, he wasn’t set for anything because we were going to take races as they come.
“In my mind a Golden Eagle was a no, those horses were too good. He ran in the Silver Eagle because he drew wide in the benchmark race on that day.
“He appears to be okay at home and is doing everything right.”
Franz Josef, $12 with TAB on Thursday, will race in blinkers for the first time at Rosehill and Ryan believes he will benefit greatly from wearing them.
He has his sights set on the Magic Millions meeting in January for the four-year-old so it’s important he shows the stable that he’s turned the corner.
“I always thought he might need blinkers, he’s a pretty laid back, switched off, sort of horse,’’ he said.
“I would have liked to see him begin and travel better at Hawkesbury than he did so I thought it might be time.
“It’s a drop in grade, he’s back a bit in journey to a trip that’s probably 200m short of his best but he has blinkers on first time and has drawn a barrier.
“We’ve freshened him up after Hawkesbury with the idea of giving him this run and one more before going to the Gold Coast.”
It’s worth noting that three of Franz Josef’s four wins have come on wet tracks, two of them in succession back in June on heavy ground, but Ryan is quick to point out he did win easily on a firm track, beating Bullets High, on Australia Day.
His last win back on June 15 came at the expense of I’mintowin, and he meets that horse 1kg better, who is the early favourite for Saturday’s race.
Franz Josef could be the stable’s only runner at Rosehill with a race morning decision on whether Revolt takes his place in the Petaluma Handicap (1200m).
Ryan feels Revolt, an easy maiden winner at Wyong two weeks ago, might need a rain affected track to be competitive with the likes of Private Harry and Theblade.
“He won on a good track the other day but I just reckon in this class of race he’d be better with the sting out of the ground,’’ he said.
– Racing NSW
