Stable star Sincero is in the spelling paddock but trainer Stephen Farley is still hopeful of pillaging some stakes races over the summer with in-form stayer Gazza Guru.
Sincero didn’t win a race in Melbourne this spring but was thereabouts in three starts at the highest level, including a ninth to Pinker Pinker in the Cox Plate.
Farley said the trip south was a learning curve for horse and trainer and he was satisfied with how the two-time Group One winner performed.
“I was pretty happy with his campaign down there in that he learned a lot and I learned a lot being there,” Farley said.
“It is different, they’re the best of the best.
“I did pick up on a few things down there and hopefully when I go back next year I’ll be a lot more knowledgeable.”
Seven-year-old Gazza Guru will carry the stable’s hopes while Sincero enjoys a break.
Despite getting towards the twilight of his career, Gazza Guru has been racing in great heart and Farley hopes that will continue in the Flinders Lane Perfect Fit Shirt Handicap at Rosehill on Saturday.
The 1900-metre event represents a drop in grade on his past three starts which have yielded thirds in the Wyong and Newcastle Cups and the Craven Plate.
“This preparation has probably been one of the best preparations of his career,” Farley said.
“He’s been very consistent from day one and run some very good races without winning.”
Farley took over the training of Gazza Guru in 2009 following stints with the Leon Macdonald and Lee Freedman stables.
He believes the key to the gelding’s current purple patch of form is a combination of maturity and the fact the horse is enjoying racing.
“He’s always a horse that has had ability but I think he’s very happy within himself at the moment,” Farley said.
“He has had a few niggling injuries along the way and now he’s older and more mature they’ve settled down and he’s racing a lot more consistently.”
Gazza Guru has not competed for six weeks after a mouth abscess ruled him out of last month’s Tattersall’s Club Cup.
But Farley says he has enough residual fitness to be prominent on Saturday in a race which shapes as a strong guide to the Christmas and Summer Cups in December.
“He’ll probably have a fortnight into the Frank Underwood Cup at Canterbury and then he’ll go into one of those, the Summer or Christmas Cups,” Farley said.
AAP TURF
