Star colt All Too Hard’s racing career is not over yet with the Group One All Aged Stakes in Sydney and Royal Ascot back on the agenda.
All Too Hard was a race morning scratching from the Australian Guineas on March 2 due to an elevated temperature, prompting doubts over the valuable stallion prospect’s racing future.
All too Hard
Co-trainer John Hawkes confirmed the plan was for the half brother to Black Caviar to make his next appearance in the All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 27 after discussing the colt’s future with Vinery Stud’s Peter Orton on Tuesday.
“Providing everything runs to plan, that’s where he is heading,” Hawkes said of the All Aged Stakes.
“At this stage everything is back on track. His blood is right again so we’ll push on.”
The weight-for-age All Aged Stakes could emerge as one of the races of the Sydney autumn carnival with More Joyous’ owner John Singleton saying he would commit his mare to the race if Black Caviar’s connections did the same and racing authorities upped the prize money.
Hawkes doesn’t care who is in the All Aged. He just hopes All Too Hard is there.
“I don’t know who else is heading there, I’m only worried about our horse,” the trainer said.
All Too Hard won the Group One Caulfield Guineas in the spring and finished second in the Cox Plate when owned by Nathan Tinkler’s Patinack Farm.
The colt returned this campaign for new owners headed by Vinery Stud to add Group One wins in the C F Orr Stakes and Futurity Stakes against older horses.
His setback meant the majority of the Sydney Carnival had to be ruled out.
The All Aged is on the final day, April 27, and Hawkes says the three-year-old will now build up to be ready for that race.
“If you didn’t take his blood you wouldn’t have known anything was wrong,” Hawkes said.
“The horse has always been fine, it’s just his blood wasn’t right. We had to wait until that came right.”
Hawkes said a trip to Royal Ascot was still on the cards for All Too Hard.
“Like everything, we’ll take it one step at a time. But it’s on the agenda,” Hawkes said.
Vinery Stud is keen for him to join the stallion roster next spring, ruling out a second tilt at the Cox Plate in October.
