Guineas confirmed for Astern

The step up to the 1600m of the G1 Caulfield Guineas is firmly on the agenda for Astern following a brilliant G1 Golden Rose victory that established him as Australia’s top three-year-old.

After examining the colt the morning after he took his record to five wins from six starts, trainer John O’Shea said that although Astern’s future is as a sprinter, he expected his class to more than make up for any stamina concerns in the Guineas.

“Ultimately he’s going to be a 1200-to-1400 metre horse,” O’Shea said.

“But I think class can take them a long way as Spring three-year-olds,” he said.

“When they get to the Autumn the others catch up physically and it evens out.”

O’Shea pointed out that sprinting colts like Starspangledbanner, who subsequently won a G1 July Cup over 1200m at Newmarket, had won the Caulfield Guineas and the prolific international sprinter Choisir had finished third in the race.

Astern is scheduled to have two more runs this Spring with the G3 Guineas Prelude over 1400m at Caulfield on September 24 to be followed by the Guineas on October 8.

He will then take a break over summer, returning for three more runs in the Autumn.

Reflecting on the Golden Rose success, O’Shea also revealed that Astern’s Spring program had been in doubt after the colt’s winter break and that only the extraordinary efforts of his team had got him to the position he now holds.

“We weren’t travelling well early in the winter and we had to extend his break,” he said.

“I thought we were going to miss the Golden Rose initially because of how much longer we had to leave him out. There are a lot of people to thank for getting that part of it right.

“A lot also went in getting him right on the day, teaching him to settle and make sure he executed correctly on race day.”

The son of Medaglia d’Oro showed the benefit of the work that has gone into him by settling comfortably near the back of the field in the Golden Rose and then responding magnificently when called on by James McDonald.

As impressive as Astern was, the effort of his stablemate Impending to finish third also deserved praise.

The relatively inexperienced colt will now go to the G2 Stan Fox Stakes at Rosehill on September 24.

The Godolphin team also produced encouraging results in Melbourne on Saturday with the three-year-old colts Archives and Tessera finishing second in stakes races while G1 Australian Derby placegetter Tally also recording a good second at handicap level.

Archives will now join Astern in the Guineas Prelude, Tessera goes to the G2 Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley and Tally tackles the G1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on October 2.

In Sydney, the Chelmsford Stakes winner Hartnell runs next in the G2 Hill Stakes at Randwick on September 17 with Tramway Stakes winner Hauraki to tackle the G1 George Main stakes on the same day and then to the G1 Epsom at Randwick on October 1.