Almoonqith reminds David Hayes of another imported Group One winner which came to his stable in the same ownership.
Tawqeet provided Hayes and Shadwell Stud with success in The Metropolitan and Caulfield Cup in 2006 and Almoonqith, along with stablemate Bold Sniper, is heading for a possible tilt at the same races.
Almoonqith and the horse owned by The Queen, Bold Sniper, will represent Hayes and Tom Dabernig in the Group Three MRC Foundation Cup (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Bold Sniper is the higher rated of the pair in betting at $8 with Almoonqith at $14 behind a firming $3.80 favourite The United States.
“It might be a bit of an early crow but he’s got a little bit of similar ability as Tawqeet had,” Hayes said of Almoonqith.
“He’s a good-eating, strong colt and has ran well in a couple of races and is in his right area now.”
However a poor barrier draw of 18 (14 after scratchings) has Hayes concerned.
“I haven’t worked out tactics yet, whether we go back or forward, I just want to see the tempo of the race,” he said.
Hayes said where Almoonqith and Tawqeet differed was the latter had a run in May following his arrival in Australia before a spell and embarking on a spring campaign.
Almoonqith arrived straight from Dubai and spelled before beginning his campaign with two sound performances at Moonee Valley.
Bold Sniper was given a pass mark by Hayes in his debut run in Australia in the Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield on August 29.
Hayes rated it a six out of 10 performance and is hoping for an eight out of 10 run on Saturday.
“He’s got definite talent and if his first half is relaxed he’ll shake the life out of it, but if he’s aggressive in the first half, he’ll do what he did last time, just an even run,” Hayes said.
“We need to get to a mile and a half to really judge him.
“We just keep him happy, doing long steady canters and the occasional breeze and he seems to be going pretty well.”
