Attica fans will soon get another glimpse of the Group 1 winner, with the colt locked in to resume his preparation at the trials this Friday.
The son of Lonhro is deep into his Autumn Carnival build-up and will trial at Warwick Farm, which is expected to be the first of three outings ahead of his return to racing.
Attica has not been sighted since claiming the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on October 25, a breakthrough win that came less than two months after debuting, and trainer Joe Pride said the brief spell has had a positive impact.
“He only had a short let-up and I’ve been really happy with him,” he said.
“It was all in his first racing preparation last time around, but he’s made some nice improvement and I’m really pleased with the way he’s moving along.”
The Spring Champion Stakes triumph marked Attica’s third victory from four career starts.
His first raceday target is the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on February 21.
Godolphin races Attica, and Pride said while the Randwick Guineas is the colt’s early Group 1 goal, he is not locked into plans beyond the 1600-metre contest on March 7.
“He’ll more than likely have three trials and he’ll be in the Hobartville first-up,” Pride said.
“We just have to be guided by how he goes in those first few runs.”
The second of Attica’s trials will take place at Warwick Farm on January 22 and is expected to coincide with the reappearance of high-profile stablemate Ceolwulf.
The Tavistock gelding ended last spring as Australia’s top miler after victories in the King Charles III Stakes and the Champions Mile at Flemington, and Pride said that initial trial would be used to assess where he sits.
“It will be a similar plan with him this time around, we’ll get some racing into him and see where he’s at.”
Ceolwulf resumed last February with a fourth in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m), finished third in the George Ryder Stakes at Group 1 level, and recorded his only win in the Neville Sellwood Stakes over 2000 metres.
The post Friday return for G1 winner Attica first appeared on Just Horse Racing.
