With a multitude of options available for Australia’s top short-course horses this weekend, Sydney trainer Matthew Smith is eager to capitalise on the opportunities for his premier 1000-metre sprinters.
Headwall is being prepared to defend his Concorde Stakes title at Randwick. In parallel, Smith’s preference is to send Way To The Stars to Melbourne to compete in the Moir Stakes.
However, Way To The Stars’ participation in the $750,000 Group 1 race at Sandown is contingent upon the track conditions.
Way To The Stars achieved a win in a 1045m trial at Randwick last Friday, following unplaced efforts in the July Sprint (1100m) and Missile Stakes (1200m). Smith is optimistic that this recent race fitness will be a key factor on Saturday.
“We had a plan with him, give him an 11 and 12 (hundred-metre race) get him as fit as we could and send him down there and see what happens,” Smith commented.
“We might catch some of those out first-up, but he’d need to get the right track condition.
“He’ll probably go if it’s not too wet.”
A son of Reward For Effort, Way To The Stars has won twice and placed on three other occasions from ten starts on Soft tracks, but has recorded six of his eight career wins on Good tracks.
Sandown’s surface was a Soft 7 on Monday morning. While significant rain is not forecast for Melbourne this week, there is a chance of showers each day from Tuesday through to race day.
Clear skies are expected in Sydney for the entire week. Smith is excited to see Headwall return to the track, his first start since defeating Lady Shenandoah in last year’s $1 million Concorde Stakes, which this year will be run at Group 2 level for the first time.
The seven-year-old suffered a pastern injury shortly after his last win, which led to him being paddocked last spring. However, he has had an extensive preparation for his comeback and impressed in two trials over August.
“It’s going to be a really good race, but he’s going as good as what he was last year going into the race and he’s been in work for a while, he’s fit and well,” Smith affirmed.
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