The team of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott has decided to start Espionage’s three-year-old season with a pure speed challenge at Caulfield.
The Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) this Saturday will mark the return of the Zoustar colt, who missed the spring campaign due to a minor setback after a trial at Randwick last August.
Bott confirmed that the issue is behind Espionage, who has undergone two trials to prepare for his race on Saturday, in addition to a gallop at Caulfield on Tuesday morning.
Espionage has been in Melbourne for around three weeks, having trialled up the straight at Flemington on February 7, finishing second behind Traffic Warden, who is a contender for the Lightning Stakes.
Bott explained that Espionage was initially intended for the Lightning Stakes but after considering the colt’s inexperience, they opted for a handicap race against more seasoned weight-for-age horses, which they felt would be more suitable at this stage of his career.
The colt will carry 50kg on Saturday and will be ridden by Dean Yendall.
“He had a small setback last time he was in work where he got to the trials but then we had to tip him out,” Bott said.
“We haven’t seen as much of him as we would have liked, and that weighed into one of the factors as to why he didn’t take his place in the Lightning at weight-for-age being a relatively inexperienced horse for where he’s at this stage of his career.
“His ability suggests that he can get there at some point, but we were probably a preparation behind in terms of having that three-year-old spring campaign to get him to where we wanted him to be.
“His two-year-old form was excellent, and I would say he’s a better three-year-old now, so it’s good to have him back.”
Espionage has spent nearly three weeks at Waterhouse and Bott’s Flemington stable, with Saturday’s race in the Oakleigh Plate serving as a stepping stone toward the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on March 8.
“He’s had a bit of time down here to get settled in, get the prep right,” Bott said.
“He should be well placed in the Newmarket. That was the thinking of potentially running in the Lightning, but he’s had that trial down there now and he trialled great up the straight.”
