Mick Price said he would aim Ayrton at the Queensland carnival and a race such as the Queensland Guineas before bringing him back to Melbourne for the spring.
“He’s going to be a lovely horse and I don’t want to cut him short by getting him back quickly for autumn three-year-old races. Physically he’s not ready yet,” he said.
He said Ayrton’s owners, the Roll The Dice Syndicate, had decided they would reject any lucrative Hong Kong offers for him and would continue to race him.
In his two starts, Ayrton has created a big impression winning his debut at Bendigo in Maiden Grade by five lengths and then his next start at Caulfield last Saturday by four lengths.
“He’s a Group horse coming. What sort of Group One race he can win I’m not sure. I’m hoping he’ll be a 2000 metres horse and I’d love to bang him in a Cox Plate,” Price said.
TAB fixed odds have installed him as a $51 chance in the 2021 Cox Plate.
