Eleven Eleven showed his Manikato Stakes preparations were on track with a trial win at Randwick on Monday morning, but a solid hitout was only part of the plan for Greg Hickman.
The Warwick Farm trainer was equally as keen to see how he reacted in the barriers at what his first experience with starting stalls since the Stradbroke Handicap.
The son of Fastnet Rock was heavily backed to start $6.50 favourite in the Stradbroke but became severely agitated by a misbehaving Isotope and failed to beat home any of his rivals.
Hickman was confident his stable star was not bearing any mental scars from that but was still keen to see him prove it.
“He hadn’t been in the barriers since that day, but he went to the trials today the same horse he was in the Stradbroke,” Hickman.
“He was good. I wanted him to trial nicely. I knew there were up-and-coming horses in the trial, but I thought he was the best horse in the trial and I wanted him to trial that way.
“It was good. He’s a very happy horse.”
Eleven Eleven was patiently ridden early by Hugh Bowman in the 1045m trial before edging his way around the field rounding the home turn.
He struck the front under little riding 250m out but was kept up to his work over the concluding stages and went to the line with three-quarters-of-a-length to spare over Waihaha Falls.
Hickman will monitor Eleven Eleven over coming days before deciding whether to trial again before the six-year-old has his first start anti-clockwise, at start No 31, in the $2 million Manikato Stakes (1200m).
“Melbourne looks a nice option, it’s something different for him to go the other way around just to spice things up for him,” Hickman said.
Following the Manikato Stakes at The Valley on October 21, Hickman said Eleven Eleven would contest either the $3 million Champions Sprint (1200m) at Flemington on November 5 or the $1 million The Hunter (1300m) at Newcastle on November 12.
