A drop in distance and reverting to some previously worn head gear is the little change Lindsay Park is looking for to get Sandy Prince back into winning form.
Not that the Ben & Jd Hayes -trained galloper is out of form, it is just the son of Pride Of Dubai has been overdoing things recently.
But the Hayes boys are looking to Sandy Prince bouncing back into form in the Listed Gothic Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Sandy Prince was successful at Sandown back in August before having his colours lowered by Forgot You at his past two starts.
After being beaten three-quarters-of-a-length over 1500m at The Valley on September 4, Sandy Prince was beaten under a length by that galloper in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) on September 24.
Forgot You then came out to run sixth behind Anamoe last week in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.
Since his last start, Lindsay Park has swapped the cross-over nose band Sandy Prince was wearing for a hanoverian nose band, a more severe piece of gear to get the gelding to race kinder.
Sandy Prince had worn the hanoverian nose band in his Moe and Sandown wins as well as The Valley placing before switching to the cross-over nose band last time out.
“I think coming back to 1400 metres sets him up nicely,” Hayes said.
“We’ve made a couple of little gear changes. We had been playing around a little with his gear and we’ve decided to go back to his old gear.
“He’s got a nice draw and he’s a horse, I feel, that doesn’t have to lead, so ridden a little bit differently, I think we can see a different result.
“In both runs at The Valley, he’s run along, and they’ve run slick times.
“He’s shown no signs of training off, and he looks the best he has looked for the prep, so I think he deserves a shot.”
