Exciting galloper Balavan will give his connections an idea of what he can achieve when kicks off his winter campaign at Caulfield.
Trained by Tony Vasil, the Bel Esprit five-year-old has won five of his six starts and the stable is keen to see him return to form when he resumes in Saturday’s second heat of the All Victorian Sprint Series, the Heather Herron Hcp (1100m).
Balavan has only been racing since June last year and charged through his grades with successive wins at Cranbourne (twice), Sale, and Geelong (twice) before finishing second last at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.
“He was very well placed by Tony in his first campaign but it was a bit of a roll of the dice last time at Flemington,” Vasil’s racing manager Sam Doran said.
“He’d certainly had enough at the end of his preparation and now we just want to see how he comes back on Saturday.
“He spelled well and has had a trouble-free preparation but at this stage nothing has been planned for him.
“He will handle all conditions, dry or wet, and Saturday just looks an ideal race for him to kick off on his home track.”
“He showed promise last campaign when he went from a maiden win through to an open handicap and Tony will assess him on what he does first up.”
Balavan won Geelong’s most important sprint, the Dual Choice Plate on Geelong Cup Day beating Stillme.
Anteros finished seventh in the same race and the Mark Young-trained sprinter, along with Royal Ida and Happy Glen who were placed behind Anteros at Caulfield last start, all clash again on Saturday.
TAB Sportsbet can’t split Balavan and the unbeaten Basil Da Man at the top of the market at $4.60 while Royal Ida is $12, Anteros $14 and Happy Glen $16.
Meanwhile Balavan’s stablemate Carrara needs to impress in the Benjamin Quigley Hcp (1400m) in order to confirm a his place at the Queensland Winter Carnival.
At his most recent start he wore blinkers for the first time and tried to lead all the way but capitulated to finish seventh to Red Colossus at Caulfield on April 23.
“They rolled along a bit quicker than they appeared and it probably had an impact on how he finished off,” Doran said.
“We are expecting a good performance on Saturday.”
AAP TURF
