David Payne unveiled his spring Classic prospects when well-bred colt Honorius led in a stable quinella at Rosehill on Saturday.
Honorius ($2.50 fav) raced to a 2-3/4-length victory over stablemate Chez Harmony ($26) in the Calmsley Hill City Farm Juvenile Stayer (1800m), an event introduced by Racing NSW to help cater for emerging stayers.
Payne showed his support of the initiative with three runners and said Honorius would now head to the paddock and be aimed at the Group One Victoria Derby (2500m) in the spring.
“He’ll go out to the farm now for a spell. I think he could be a Derby horse,” Payne said.
“He won easily today. He was nominated for the TJ Smith over 1600 metres in Brisbane (next month) but the further he goes the better he’s going to be.
“We’ll head for the Victoria Derby.”
Honorius is a half-brother to South African champion Igugu and took his record to two wins from seven starts.
The colt settled fifth in the field of nine but quickly chimed in in the straight and relished the step up in distance.
Chez Harmony finished the race off strongly from last while race leader Fiveandahalfstar ($5) held on for third another half length away.
Chez Harmony was stepping up from 1200m and Payne pinpointed the VRC Oaks (2500m) as the filly’s spring objective.
“She’ll go to the next 1800 metre race and then we’ll give her a little spell and head to Victoria as well,” he said.
Payne believes the 1800m event for two-year-olds is vital in giving the young horses showing ability over distances the grounding for a spring staying preparation.
“I’m a big fan of it,” Payne said.
“That’s what they want and it’s good to give them a bit of grounding.
“They are bred to do it so let them do it.”
Jockey Glyn Schofield said Honorius continued to learn his craft and was encouraged by what he described as a very easy win.
“He’s put back-to-back wins on the board now. He obviously stays very well and these are the races that are indicative of what they are going to do in the future,” he said.
