Some of the biggest names in the team preparing for Australia's rich autumn meetings stepped up their preparations in Sydney on Tuesday, January 19 in a style that suggested they are on track for another strong showing.
Some of the biggest names in the team preparing for Australia's rich Autumn meetings stepped up their preparations in Sydney on Tuesday, January 19 in a style that suggested they are on track for another strong showing.
The Godolphin stable won 11 Group races in Sydney last Autumn and the strength of their Spring form was shown in five Stakes-race wins in one day at Randwick.
Australian trainer John O'Shea sent out 18 runners under race conditions in barrier trials at Rosehill on Tuesday, among them some of the stable's experienced stayers and a selection of promising, as yet unraced, two-year-olds.
One of the best performances came from the imported Bow Creek who made an impressive Australian debut last Spring when second over 1600m at Group 2 level in Melbourne.
In a strong field he stayed on strongly to finish second after missing the start by three lengths in the 900m trial.
Deputising for O'Shea, assistant trainer Darren Beadman said the effort gave the team confidence that Bow Creek was up to some of the better races of the Autumn.
"He gave away a big start and gathered them in without much trouble," Beadman said.
"It might only have been a trial, but it was a good one."
In the day's other trial for Group and Listed horses, Complacent, a dual Stakes winner last Spring, showed he was ready for a forward showing when he resumes.
With James McDonald up, Complacent jumped cleanly, took up a forward position and stayed on well.
A campaign aimed at the A$4 million G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes, is ahead of Complacent who is likely to resume in next month's G1 Chipping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm.
"He won a couple of Group races last Spring after having a long time off recovering from injury, so it's always nice to see him come through his trial fit and well," Beadman said.
Another to impress was the recently-imported English horse Arab Dawn.
In his second trial since joining the O'Shea team, Arab Dawn stayed wide, joining in with 250m to run and going to the line under a hold in fourth place.
Among the juveniles, the Sepoy filly Chipanda impressed, running into third place in her 900m trial without being pressured, while the unraced two-year-old fillies Silent Sea and Nonpareil both showed good ability to finish second and fourth respectively in their trial.
Beadman said the stable was particularly pleased with the effort of the unraced colt Kent who overcame difficulties to finish an encouraging second.
"All the the two-year-olds went nicely. They probably aren't going to be in the biggest races, but they showed nice ability."
Most of Tuesday's runners will appear in trials again over the next two weeks, with next Monday's heats at Warwick Farm expected to include the G1-winning sprinter Exosphere.
The G1 VRC Oaks placegetter Ambience is scheduled to trial the following week, along with last Autumn's G1 BMW winner Hartnell.
