One of Queensland racing’s best-known combinations, Sizzling and Chris Munce, will be reunited in the Gold Coast Guineas on Saturday.
Munce was forced to relinquish the ride on Sizzling in the Magic Millions Guineas at the Gold Coast in January while he was undergoing treatment for throat cancer.
After spending four months on the sidelines recuperating, Munce rode his first winner aboard It’s On The Pocket at Doomben on April 17.
Craig Williams rode Sizzling when he was a fast-finishing second to Saluter in the Magic Millions Guineas after drawing the outside barrier in the 16-horse field.
Munce has ridden Sizzling in all the colt’s previous 12 starts including his win in the Group One TJ Smith (1600m) at Eagle Farm at last year’s winter carnival.
The Kelso Wood-trained three-year-old competed in a jump-out at Doomben last Tuesday and will stage a rematch with Saluter in the Gold Coast Guineas.
Saluter (Damian Browne) has pleased trainer Jason McLachlan since he won a Sunshine Coast jump-out last Tuesday, defeating stablemate Phelan Ready who will resume in Saturday’s Prime Minister’s Cup (1300m).
McLachlan confirmed dual Oakleigh Plate placegetter Facile Tigre was on target for the Group One Goodwood Handicap (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday week after winning a Flemington jump-out on Friday.
Last year’s South Australian Derby winner Zabeelionaire will have to impress trainer Leon Corstens when he trials in blinkers at Cranbourne on Monday to warrant a trip to Queensland.
Corstens was disappointed with the four-year-old’s first up effort at Caulfield on April 20 when he finished a well beaten last of seven runners in the Pink Ribbon Cup (1400m) won by Speediness.
Trainer Robert Heathcote has stepped up the trackwork of Solzhenitsyn leading into Saturday’s Hollindale Stakes (1800m) after the gelding was a late scratching in the Doncaster Mile when the Randwick track was downgraded to heavy.
“He won a 1200 metre jump out at Doomben last Tuesday by 10 lengths and his time was a second and a half quicker than any of the other heats over that distance,” Heathcote said.
Solzhenitsyn won’t have raced for more than a month when he lines up in the Hollindale but Heathcote is more concerned by the layout of the Gold Coast course than the break between runs.
“The 1800 metres isn’t overly testing but my biggest concern is the actual track itself,” he said.
“I make no secret that it’s a horses-for-courses track more than any other in Queensland and we see it year after year in the Magic Millions that some horses simply don’t handle it.”
