Ben Brisbourne is eyeing Group 1 glory for Suparazi, with the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June firmly on the radar. But before booking that trip north, the Wangaratta-based trainer is hoping to see his stable star return to winning form in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield this Saturday.
Suparazi hasn’t won since scoring at Flemington in January, but his consistency remains impressive. He has placed in eight of his last 12 starts and has now amassed more than $1 million in career earnings.
Brisbourne was encouraged by the gelding’s first-up effort in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m), where he finished fifth, just over four lengths behind Joliestar on March 8.
“We thought he was brilliant that day,” Brisbourne said.
“It will be a month between runs, but we gave him a tick over trial at Bendigo and he looked good.
He’s been a little while between drinks now, but he’s picked up plenty of prize money in between.
I think this is the right race for him and it would be great to see him back in the winner’s enclosure.
The 1400 metres seems to be his sweet spot, although he is effective at 1200 metres and up to a mile, so the 1400 metres second-up, looks just about right.
Declan Bates sticks with him after he rode him in the Newmarket. I thought he rode him well that day and he will take some benefit out of having had a sit on the horse.”
Suparazi’s record away from home has been solid, having placed during interstate ventures to Randwick, Rosehill, and Kembla Grange last preparation. However, a taxing travel schedule may have caught up with him when he ran last in the Group 2 Ingham Stakes (1600m) in December.
“I think maybe in the Ingham the effects of going up and back to Sydney two or three times eventually took its toll on him,” Brisbourne said.
“We’ll probably be a little bit more reserved this time.
We placed him quite aggressively through the spring, so you won’t see out too much this autumn, but he will travel for big races as necessary.
I’m not sure about Sydney, but there has been some talk of the Stradbroke.
He might be a suitable horse for that, but we would obviously want to see him win a race before went down that avenue.”
