A horse Mike Moroney had hoped would be a Caulfield Guineas prospect last spring is ready for a bold showing at his stakes debut in the Listed Bendigo Guineas.
But first he has to get into the field.
Milwaukee is 19th in the ballot order for Saturday’s Bendigo Guineas (1400m) which has a field limit of 16 plus four emergencies.
He won a Wodonga maiden on debut last August but it took until his sixth start, and second of his current campaign, to break through for another victory over 1400m in a benchmark race at Pakenham on March 16.
“He’s just kept improving and has been a big improver this time around,” Moroney said.
Moroney said Milwaukee has had to improve his race craft through match practice but had always shown ability.
“He’s learned a lot during the spring and autumn and he’s racing far more tractably,” Moroney said.
“He was our one that we tried to get ready for the Caulfield Guineas (in the spring). But things just went wrong.
“He won his first start impressively but he started to do it all wrong in his races, and we struck tracks which didn’t suit and things didn’t really go our way at all in the spring.”
Moroney believes Milwaukee will continue to get better as he gets older.
“The question mark will be whether he wants to go a mile (1600m),” the trainer said.
“His best part of his race last start was his last 100 metres so that will be the question mark, whether he’s still sharp enough for the 1400.
“And he’s got to make the field first.”
There’s a possibility Milwaukee could progress towards the Queensland carnival if he keeps stepping up.
Moroney also has War Legend entered for another of Saturday’s features on the Bendigo program, the Listed Golden Mile, but he too is down the ballot order.
“There’s races for both of them next Wednesday at Sandown if they don’t make it into the races on Saturday,” Moroney said.
