Summary Of Our Trainers’ Tips For Scone Stand-Alone Day

From Greg Hickman

Horse: Eleven Eleven
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 9, Ortensia Stakes) Eleven Eleven has to run. He needs this race to be ready for Brisbane because he will go to the Kingsford-Smith Cup next and then the Stradbroke Handicap. I didn’t want to run him at Hawkesbury (in the Hawkesbury Rush) the other day because it was a very wet track. He only had two weeks off from his summer campaign and had been in work just seven weeks before Hawkesbury. But the horse looks very fit and I would be devastated if he can’t be in the finish. Eleven Eleven is not a noted first-up performer but he did sprint well fresh last preparation when a close 4th in the Choisir Handicap at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day last year. There is good tempo in this race so that will suit Eleven Eleven. He doesn’t mind the sting out of the ground either.

Horse: American President
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 10, Yarraman Park BM78 Hcp) American President has excelled on very heavy tracks this autumn and is chasing his fourth successive win after winning efforts at Canterbury and Randwick. American President’s racing gear has been adjusted by removing the lugging bit and adding a Norton bit plus champion jockey Hugh Bowman has picked up the ride. American President has been up for a long, long time but he’s going very well. Because he goes very hard in his trackwork, we only work him on a Tuesday morning but he’s holding his form and I’m expecting him to run another good race.

From Team Snowden

Horse: Mirror Vision
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 8, Dark Jewel Classic) While her Group 1 placing in the Coolmore Classic in March was on a very heavy track, the stable targeted Scone looking for a firmer surface. On these (heavy) 9 and 10s she’s made hard work of it but has still managed to run well but if she gets back onto soft we’re in with a great chance. The track didn’t suit her at all in the Coolmore but she ran bravely. She hasn’t raced since finishing midfield in the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes at Newcastle on March 28. With this race in mind we gave her a break hopeful we can kick a goal. She’s had a freshen up and is in great order. She has a good gate (3) to get a good run and she will make her presence felt.

Horse: Ranges
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 9, Ortensia Stakes) Ranges has his first run from a break in the Listed Ortensia Stakes he appears to have come up in great style. I trialled him a bit earlier because his work was a bit ordinary and I thought he might take a few trials to get him going. I put him in a hot trial and he trialled like a bomb. His work on Tuesday was very good, I worked him with a couple of smart horses and he worked well. A soft track will bring him right in with a light weight on his back, there’s a lot of speed there and the way he’s going it wouldn’t surprise to see him get home hard.

From James Cummings

Horse: In Secret
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 4, Vinery Woodlands Stakes) A $900,000 yearling and an impressive debut winner. I would be pretty excited about her that if she could get up and win this race, she would have excellent prospects for us in the spring as a rising three-year-old filly. The fact she’s so well respected in the market in a stakes race at her second start tells us we are going somewhere with her. She’s been well set up for this race, she hasn’t been overly taxed and had a few weeks between runs. She’s beautifully bred so it would be a big result to get some black type with her so early in her career. But equally she has shown lots of promise, and looks to get a perfect run from the draw (gate 1).

Horse: Andermatt
Message: (Saturday, Scone Race 7, Luskin Star Stakes) The four-year-old has won both starts over 1100 metres since returning to racing as a gelding. The Stradbroke would loom up and look very enticing for a horse coming through his grades so fast. You can see the races I have been interested in running him in in the past and some of the opposition he met as a two-year-old and the promise he was showing there. He is really putting it together now in great style. As long as he can get in a good rhythm and relax in the 1300m and still be as effective, that will be something of a challenge for the horse, but I think it’s certainly worthy of trying him at this stage.

From The Editor

Scone Race 6 – Authentic Jewel
Scone Race 7 – Andermatt
Scone Race 8 – Never Talk

Share this article