The scrapping of this year’s Adelaide Magic Millions has disappointed trainer Anthony Freedman who was hoping to target the feature with impressive Sandown debut winner Cheyenne Warrior.
Freedman said the Adelaide race, which was delisted this season, would have been a logical target for the Not A Single Doubt colt who landed Wednesday’s Dash For Cash Handicap (900m).
Cheyenne Warrior will now be aimed at the Listed Talindert Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on February 18 and the Listed Festival Of Racing 1000 (1000m) on March 3, which are both worth $100,000, considerably less than the usual Magic Millions prize.
Freedman said he was unsure about the depth of Wednesday’s race at Sandown but liked the way Cheyenne Warrior won.
Ridden by Daniel Moor, he railed through to score a three-quarter length victory from the David Hayes-trained Nixon and debutante Bec Said No Credit.
Freedman is acting as caretaker trainer of Cheyenne Warrior for his brother Michael who is training with great success in Singapore.
“Michael bought the horse for a client in Singapore but if we can keep winning with him he might leave him here a bit longer,” Freedman said.
“We tend to grade them for him over here and if we think they can win in the city they usually hang around for a while.”
An $80,000 yearling at the Magic Millions Summer Sale, Cheyenne Warrior was being aimed at last month’s Gold Coast Magic Millions but went shinsore two months before the January classic.
“The timing was all wrong,” Freedman said.
“He went sore in November and that buggers you for January.
“Today he looked pretty much a 1000-metre horse but we will just see where we get with him.”
Meanwhile, the stable’s headline juvenile Ockham’s Razor, who won last Sunday’s Karaka Million, is set to have an extended stay in New Zealand and miss the Group One Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 25.
“We think we are going to leave him there for a couple of good races,” Freedman said.
Earmarked are the Group Three $NZ75,000 Waikato Stud Classic (1200m) at Taranaki on February 18 and the $NZ200,000 Group One Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on March 10.
“We gave it a lot of thought and they are two races that look winnable over there while he would start 12 or 15-1 back here (in the Blue Diamond),” Freedman said.
On Tuesday, Freedman paid up for Ockham’s Razor in the Blue Diamond along with stablemates Armed For Action and Yellow Jersey.
AAP TURF
