The little brother of now-retired multiple Group One winner Shoals gets his chance to emerge as a Caulfield Guineas contender when he runs in the Group Three Prelude.
Three-year-old colt Groundswell, a $2.3 million yearling, won a 1218m maiden at his second start at Geelong in his season return earlier in September.
He will join his more exposed stablemate Super Seth and a host of other Guineas contenders in Sunday’s Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m).
“Groundswell has improved out of that run and he’s a pretty exciting horse so we’re actually pretty excited to see him step up to this sort of grade,” trainer Anthony Freedman’s son and assistant, Sam Freedman, said.
“It’s putting him in the deep end pretty early in his career but we feel like he’s improved a lot so hopefully he can measure up to this class.
“He brings a whole different form line. There’s more seasoned horses than him there but in our eyes he should have the talent to match it with them.”
Super Seth resumed with victory in the Group Three McNeil Stakes at Caulfield before finishing sixth in the Danehill Stakes over the straight 1200m at Flemington at his most recent start.
He will be out to bounce back and stamp his 2019 Caulfield Guineas claims over 1400m and Freedman is not concerned about a wide draw.
“We really want to ride him quiet and just let him find his feet,” he said.
“He needs to just relax a bit, especially if he’s going to get the mile so we’ll ride him really quiet and hopefully they run along a bit and he can track up into it and finish off.
“For him we’d rather be drawing out there than in real close.”
Super Seth is $14 for the Caulfield Guineas Prelude with Groundswell $23.
Exciting colt Dalasan, trained by Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, is the $2.40 favourite after wins in the Spring Stakes and Danehill Stakes this campaign.
