Group One winner Seize The Day is progressing nicely in Australia for trainer Mark Walker and pleased the trans-Tasman conditioner with his 1000m jumpout win at Caulfield Heath on Wednesday.
The I Am Invincible colt was a standout as a juvenile in New Zealand last season, winning two of his three starts for Walker and New Zealand training partner Sam Bergerson, including an emphatic victory in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham in March, cementing his place in Te Akau’s Cranbourne barn in spring.
He has settled in well to his new environment, finishing runner-up in his first jumpout over 800m at Cranbourne at the start of the month, and Walker was glad to give Seize The Day a hit-out in new surroundings this week.
“He jumped out nicely,” Walker said. “He improved a lot fitness-wise from his first jumpout and it was good to have the opportunity to travel to Caulfield just to get him out of the stable.”
Seize The Day will return to the Melbourne track next Saturday to kick off his preparation, with the aim of contesting the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 10.
“He kicks off next Saturday at Caulfield in the McNeill (Gr.3, 1200m),” Walker said. “Because he is a Group One winner, he will have to carry the Group One penalty, so he gets 59kg. It isn’t ideal, but it is the right race to start him off in.
“Then it is three weeks to the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (Gr.3, 1400m), and it is set weights and penalties, so he will have to carry the 59kg there as well. And then it is the Caulfield Guineas on October 10, so it’s three weeks in between runs, which is nice.”
Fellow Group One-winning stablemate Geegees Mistruth also featured prominently at the jumpouts, winning her 800m heat, and the Gr.1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) victor is set to kick-off in the Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at Sandown on September 5.
“She was really good,” Walker said. “She came along in leaps and bounds last season, but you are just hoping that she goes to a new level this season.”
Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) heroine Belle Cheval was given her second jumpout on the Caulfield Heath, and Walker was pleased with what he saw ahead of what could be a lucrative spring preparation.
“She just had a soft trial because she is only running 1200m first-up in the Courtza Stakes (Gr.3) next Saturday (at Caulfield), and that will be short of her best distance, and she will have to carry a Group One penalty” he said.
“A race like the Sir Rupert Clarke (Gr.1, 1400m) three weeks later we think will suit nicely, and then on to the Toorak Handicap (Gr.1, 1600m) three weeks later, and then, all going well, the A$10 million Gr.1 Golden Eagle (1500m). Obviously, it is going to be a hell of a field, so you have got to be flying.”
Stablemate Wonderful Sky was also given a quiet hit-out, placing in her 800m heat, and the daughter of Ole Kirk will be hunting a black-type win this spring.
The three-year-old filly showed plenty of promise last season, winning one and finishing second in two of her three starts, including runner-up in the Gr.3 Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on ANZAC Day.
“That was her first trial, so she just had a soft hit-out,” Walker said. “We will just see how she comes up, we will try and win a soft Listed race somewhere and try and improve on that.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
