Arabian King’s quest to qualify for the $300,000 Country Championships at Randwick enters its next phase at Grafton.
“You’ve got to dream,” the four-year-old’s trainer John Shelton said.
“A lot of horses are obviously going to head that way and try and qualify for the big money race.
“We’re in the same boat. But you’ve got to be careful planning it. You can’t win too many races too soon and there are special clauses to the race.
“Getting our horse right for the qualifying race at Grafton is the long term plan.”
Competition for the limited spots available for the new event during The Championships is expected to be intense.
Arabian King lines up on Sunday seeking a hat-trick of wins this campaign in the Grafton Hotel Benchmark 70 handicap (1100m).
Shelton admits it is another rise in class for the lightly raced gelding but one he has earned.
“All his runs have been good and he’s won both times this time in,” Shelton said.
“He’s only missed a place once (April 24) and he missed the start that day and nothing went right.
“He’s still only a Class Three horse and he’s meeting horses who have won a lot more races but he does get in with a nice weight (54kg) after Kasie Stanley’s claim (1.5kg).”
Shelton is taking a gamble and removing the blinkers from Arabian King on Sunday.
“To be honest I don’t know whether it’s the right thing of wrong thing,” Shelton said.
“He had a jump-out the other day and went really well without the blinkers on. He jumped a lot better than usual.
“It’s hard when they’ve won two in a row with blinkers on but we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”
Shelton also considered starting Arabian King at Ipswich rather than Grafton but the hot weather and the toll a trip would take on him swayed him to stay at home.
