A horse owned by Her Majesty The Queen is gearing up to make his Australian debut.
Bold Sniper had a gallop between races at Seymour on Wednesday in preparation for a potential first-up run in the Slickpix Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield on August 29.
Formerly prepared in the United Kingdom by Sir Michael Stoute, Bold Sniper firstly headed to Gai Waterhouse before a switch to David Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
Wednesday’s exhibition gallop was Bold Sniper’s second racetrack appearance since joining Lindsay Park after a trip to Echuca recently.
Dabernig said Bold Sniper had a few problems adapting to training at Randwick but has settled in to the rural surrounds at Euroa.
“Since we’ve had him at the farm he’s been really good and we keep him in a pretty steady routine and he can do some interval style training,” Dabernig told Racing Live.
Bold Sniper came to Australia a winner of three races from his 11 starts and finished second to Contributor in the Wolverton Handicap over 2012m at Royal Ascot last year.
Dabernig said it was a great honour to be training for Her Majesty and said there has been no great expectations placed on the stable regarding Bold Sniper.
“He hasn’t raced now for coming up 12 months and often these horses can take a race or two to hit their straps,” Dabernig said.
“He’s got form from 2000 metres to 2400 metres.
“It’s a great honour to train for Her Majesty and they’ve assured us there’s no great expectation and just let him go through his classes to see where he ends up.
“I’m happy with him, his recovery was very good and he’s just about ready to go to the races.”
Bold Sniper holds a nomination for both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate and hasn’t raced since finishing third over 2400m at Doncaster last September.
