Queensland Derby hopeful Eagle Way has made an impressive return away from the glare of metropolitan racing.
Eagle Way, who won three times during the summer, finished second to the handy Doughty in a benchmark 75 race at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Eagle Way
Trainer Bryan Guy couldn’t have been happier with Eagle Way who is on his way to the Group One Queensland Derby on June 11.
The gelding is owned by Hong Kong trainer John Moore who has left Eagle Way in Australia with the Derby his sole objective.
“Eagle Way really hit the line hard on Saturday which was exactly what we wanted to see,” Guy said.
“He obviously wasn’t fully wound up. You don’t have a horse 100 per cent in April to win a race in June.
“But he did everything we expected and he will have his next start at 1600 metres in the Gunsynd Classic at Doomben on April 30.”
Guy said from there Eagle Way would step up in distances each fortnight in the Rough Habit Plate (2000m), Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) and then Queensland Derby (2400m).
Fellow trainer Michael Lakey is looking at the BRC Sprint (1350m) on May 21 for Trubia who made it five wins on end at Toowoomba on Saturday.
“There is another Class Six Plate for him in a fortnight and then we will run him in the Sprint,” Lakey said.
“We will enter him for the big stakes race later in the carnival but that race should tell us if he is up to them.”
Trubia was sold to Hong Kong last year but the deal fell through.
“He passed the vet check and everything but they just didn’t go through with the deal,” he said.
Trubia took his prize money to nearly $240,000 on Saturday but will need more to make the field for races such as the Group One Stradbroke Handicap on June 11.
