G1 colt to resume at Moonee Valley

The return to racing of Godolphin’s highest-ranked juvenile of last season, Microphone, will be in next Friday’s G2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley.

Microphone had been entered for the Kensington Stakes this Saturday at Flemington, in which he was handicapped to carry 60kg, but was not paid up at acceptance time on Wednesday.

Head Trainer James Cummings said the prospect of conceding weight to older horses and at least 5.5kg to three-year-olds such as Time To Reign, had influenced his decision, as did the good record of three-year-olds in the following week’s Moonee Valley weight-for-age contest.

“The reality is, the scale of the handicap in the Kensington Stakes isn’t what we believed it to be,” Cummings said.

“We would be asked to give more than five kilos to some well-credentialled runners and we don’t believe that is in the best interests of the horse.”

The list of three-year-olds to win the Australia Stakes in recent years includes Black Caviar, California Dane, Holler, the latter being closely-related to Microphone.

Microphone’s juvenile season was capped by his victory in the G1 Sires Produce Stakes, one of four wins in his first season of racing.

He had a light spring preparation, his only run as a three-year-old resulting in a third placing in the G2 Roman Consul Stakes at Randwick last October.