Think It Over to resume in the Apollo Stakes
The path to another tilt at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes for 2022 winner Think It Over is set to begin in another Randwick weight-for-age race the grand campaigner also won two years ago.
Trainer Kerry Parker is thrilled with the way his stable star is going in preparation for his first start of 2024 on Saturday in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes.
Nash Rawiller is booked to continue his association with Think It Over in the 1400-metre event, with Parker also pencilling in another two races for the gelding’s campaign before the $5 million Queen Elizabeth (2000m) at Randwick in April during The Championships.
Think It Over won the Apollo and Queen Elizabeth during a memorable 2022 autumn preparation before the gelding spent more than a year off the scene when he suffered a tendon injury.
His comeback campaign during the 2023 spring netted a victory in the $1 million 7 Stakes at Randwick.
He was spelled again after an unplaced finish in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes on October 14.
“He’s come back great,” Parker said.
“I thought his trials have been really good and he’s been doing everything really well, so I’m looking forward to getting him back to the races next Saturday.
“He’ll just head on that traditional path to the Queen Elizabeth.
“He’s won it (Queen Elizabeth Stakes) once and it would be nice to get him back there fully fit and going, so fingers crossed.”
The Apollo has attracted 13 nominations including multiple Group 1 winners Fangirl, Cascadian and Militarize.
Think It Over was beaten just under 1-1/2-lengths when sixth in the Group 1 Winx Stakes over the Randwick 1400m first-up from his lengthy lay-off last spring.
“Last time I had brought him in really early and made sure we gave him a really good foundation, so he had been in work a long time before that carnival,” Parker said.
“I thought he did a super job to come back and win the 7 Stakes and I was happy to give him a nice break.”
Think It Over has had two Warwick Farm trials leading into the Apollo.
“I think he’ll run really well,” Parker said.
“He’s got good first-up form but he is getting a little older, he might find something a little sharper and no doubt he’s still going to improve from his first-up run.
“He is an eight-year-old now but he is coming up really good. I was rapt with his trial and he worked nicely (on Saturday morning) so I’m looking forward to getting him back to the races.”
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...