Saturday’s January Handicap will be a litmus test for Tiger Tees when he steps out over further than 1200 metres for the first time.
Trainer Joe Pride has no doubts the four-year-old will get over a distance and has touted him as a potential Doncaster Mile (1600m) contender.
Joe Pride has no doubts the four-year-old will get over a distance and has touted him as a potential Doncaster Mile (1600m) contender
But he admits the January Handicap (1300m) will give him a better guide from a planning perspective.
“I’ve got no concerns with the distance and Saturday will be a help to planning where we go with him,” Pride said.
“He’s still got to win a black-type race before we decide how high he goes.
“I think this might be the right time to put him over more ground and it will tell us a lot.
“Last time he raced over 1200 metres it was at Rosehill and he looked like a horse looking for more ground.”
The winner of six of his eight starts, Tiger Tees won over 1200 metres at Rosehill in September, his first attempt beyond 1100m.
At his most recent start Tiger Tees beat the well-performed Dystopia over 1100m at Canterbury on Christmas Eve.
The start before he was beaten a half-head by Atomic Force in an 1100m welter at the same track with the winner going on to claim his second Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ellerslie on Sunday.
Tiger Tees is adept on all surfaces but Pride is hoping the Rosehill surface is not as hard as Warwick Farm on Monday.
The trainer was upset with the good (2) surface Rain Affair had to deal with to win the Carrington Stakes.
The stylish sprinter still had too much class but Pride said he would be true to his word and not run him again in January.
“He seems OK,” he said.
“He’s gone out and will spend seven to ten days on the water-walker.
“He’s not going to run until the Expressway in February and then we’ll see what his Group One targets are whether in Sydney or Melbourne.
“I’m toying with the idea of the Newmarket Handicap and then there are races like the TJ Smith and the All-Aged Stakes in Sydney.
“They are the obvious ones.”
The Chris Waller-trained Dystopia is among the 12 entries for the January Handicap which include multiple stakeswinner Youthful Jack who made a welcome return to form at Wyong on December 21 beating O’Crikey who is also nominated for the Warwick Farm race.
Trained by Ross Stitt at Taree, Youthful Jack’s Wyong victory was his first since May 2009 when he took out the Listed Brisbane Plate (1400m) at Eagle Farm.
AAP TURF
