Daily Bugle will fly the flag for the Robbie Griffiths and Mathew De Kock stable in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes.
Trainer Robbie Griffiths believes he has the ideal replacement for Glenfiddich who after a successful two-year-old campaign with the stable was transferred to Peter Moody.
Griffiths, who is now in a training partnership with Mathew De Kock, prepared Glenfiddich for his two-year-old campaign that led him to running second in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick last April.
When Moody started training again, Glenfiddich switched stables, going on to claim the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at The Valley last spring.
Glenfiddich was ruled out of the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas with an entrapped epiglottis before his three-year-old year was halted after suffering a career threatening leg injury.
Griffiths was bitterly disappointed to lose Glenfiddich believing him to be the horse he had been looking for, but he is now looking ahead to the career of Daily Bugle who runs in the Group 2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Daily Bugle has raced twice. He scored on debut at Pakenham over 1200m on January 28 before running second to Lightsaber over 1400m at Sandown on February 17.
Lighsaber is an opponent on Saturday and is the TAB $4.20 favourite while Daily Bugle is a $16 chance.
“He was very good at Sandown and he was terrific on debut,” Griffiths said.
“We had to go too far back at Sandown because of the barrier and the technical aspect of how the race was run.
“We do think he will be a better horse over the 1400 metres when ridden a bit more forward, but again we have drawn poorly.
“But he has trained on beautifully and we do think that he will represent the stable well in the Sires’ and we’re looking forward to being there.”
Written by Craig Brennan
