Bel Sprinter and trainer Jason Warren get their first taste of international racing next weekend and their Singapore trip will also provide valuable experience for the future.
The Group One Galaxy winner Bel Sprinter was due to arrive in Singapore on Sunday ahead of his assignment in the KrisFlyer (1200m) at Kranji a week later.
It is slated to be the first of two international missions this year for Bel Sprinter with the Hong Kong International Sprint high on the wish list for Warren in December.
“This trip will put him in good stead for international travel later on,” Warren said.
“Obviously I want to go to Hong Kong in December because there’s a big money race over there as well.
“That’s why we’ll look to give him just a couple of runs in the spring. The Manikato would be one of the main races we’d be aiming at and then head over there (to Hong Kong).”
Warren is confident his charge will prove hard to beat in the Singapore sprint so long as the gelding takes his recent Australian form with him.
“To take a horse internationally is a career-defining thing really,” Warren said.
“To take a horse over there and have a shot and win an international race would be everything.”
The plan for Bel Sprinter is to race in the KrisFlyer before returning to Australia with a light spring campaign on the agenda before Hong Kong.
Leading Sydney jockey Hugh Bowman will partner Bel Sprinter and fellow Australian Mawingo who contests the Singapore Airlines Cup.
Bel Sprinter won the Galaxy (1100m) in stunning fashion first-up during the Sydney autumn carnival before finishing third to Black Caviar in the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick.
Success in Singapore would add Bel Sprinter’s name to an impressive list of Australian sprinters who have been successful overseas in the past decade.
They include Takeover Target who won the KrisFlyer in 2008, defeating Magnus in a quinella for Australian-trained sprinters.
“Aussie horses hold their own all around the world,” Warren said.
“I think we’ve got to be confident the way he handled himself in Sydney. If he takes that form over there you’d expect him to be hard to beat.”
