Devised has been narrowly denied in the past two Wagga Wagga Gold Cups on his home track but now trainer Tim Donnelly has shifted his sights to winning another NSW country feature race.
Donnelly is looking at taking Devised to the $150,000 Grafton Cup in July and has decided the gelding’s path towards that race will take in a 2400m event at Caulfield on Saturday instead of the Listed W J McKell Cup at Randwick over the same journey.
He believes the Caulfield race is a more winnable option for Devised in his first attempt at the distance.
“It is a weaker race and John Kissick is going to ride him and he can claim in the Caulfield race but can’t claim in the McKell Cup,” Donnelly said.
“His true weight would have been 51-1/2 kilos in the McKell Cup but the limit is 54. They’ve also forecast a huge amount of rain for Sydney and it’s going to be his first go at 2400 metres so I don’t really want him on a bog track.”
Donnelly isn’t expecting Kissick to be able to claim his full 3kg allowance off Devised’s 56kg impost at Caulfield, but said he was likely to take off 2kg.
Devised has continued to please Donnelly since he was denied by a nose in the Wagga Wagga Cup (2000m) for the second time on May 3.
“The first year we weren’t sure, we thought we might have won, but the other day we did think he had won,” Donnelly said.
The trainer admits he would have preferred to have started Devised one more time over 2000m before stepping him up in trip, but said there wasn’t a suitable option.
“I wanted him to race this week and although 2000 metres would have been ideal, I know he’ll run 2400 metres,” Donnelly said.
Devised is likely to have one more start, in either Sydney or Melbourne, after Saturday and if he’s still going well will head to Grafton for its Cup on July 11.
