A technical glitch means Ace High’s name does not appear in original nominations for the Group One Randwick Guineas but he has been added and his trainer is confident he will make his presence felt.
The dual Group One winner was missing on Monday morning when entries were taken for Saturday’s Group One Randwick Guineas as he continues his build-up towards the Australian Derby.
“I don’t know what happened. I put the entry in with the others but it didn’t show up,” David Payne said.
“We noticed it straight away so it has been fixed.”
Ace High won the Spring Champion Stakes and Victoria Derby last year and has had two runs back in the Expressway Stakes (1200) and Hobartville Stakes (1400m) with Payne looking forward to getting him up to 1600 metres on Saturday.
“He only gets better as he gets further and it’s Randwick so it’s a tough 1600,” Payne said.
“He is building up well.”
Payne has also harboured thoughts of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2000m after the Rosehill Guineas and the Derby but the more it looks as if Winx will go there, the less likely it is Ace High will.
“I think it will be the Derby and not the Queen Elizabeth,” he said.
“On what we saw on Saturday, I don’t think we’ll be taking her on.”
Ace High is the favourite for the Australian Derby (2400m) on April 7 while Payne has high hopes for a colt he thinks is a stayer of the future.
Toulouse will go to Melbourne for Saturday’s Group Two Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).
“He is a very nice horse and Ben Melham will ride him at Flemington,” Payne said.
“Then he will come back to Sydney for the Champagne Stakes,
“He could be a Derby horse next season. He has the right temperament to get a longer distance.”
Payne said Toulouse had pleased him in a counter-clockwise gallop with Ace High and he had no fears he would handle Flemington.
In the TAB’s opening market on the Randwick Guineas which does not include Ace High, Kementari is the $2.25 favourite over D’Argento at $4.60.
