With the spring carnival looming on the horizon, Nathan Doyle is hoping to strike while the iron is hot by testing progressive gelding Funshow in Saturday metropolitan company.
The son of Cosmic Force, who has impressed winning his past two starts by a combined 6-1/2 lengths, will line up in a Benchmark 72 over 1500m for three and four-year-olds at Rosehill on Saturday.
The conditions of the race proved particularly appealing, with Saturday marking the start of the new racing season and Funshow officially becoming a four-year-old.
“He seems to be trending the right way,” Doyle said.
“There’s nowhere to hide now, he’s probably at that level.
“He’s got to step up and go to that 72 grade, but he’s in good order and 1500 metres I think he’ll run out strongly.”
After successive victories at Newcastle over 1300m and Hawkesbury over 1400m, Doyle has no concerns stretching Funshow to 1500m, especially with the $160,000 prizemoney on offer.
“He’s always shown us that he’d be a miler in time and he’s slowly getting there,” Doyle said.
“It’s definitely the right time to try them. Obviously, it’s carnival time very soon, so you probably try them while those 72s are on a Saturday for the good prize money.”
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Doyle could also have two other runners at Rosehill on Saturday, headed by last-start winner Silvanito, who is set to contest another Benchmark 78 over 1400m.
“He finally drew a gate third up and we were able to ride him a little closer,” Doyle said of the former Godolphin gelding.
“It’s the difference from being able to drag him back from bad gates and always hitting the line strongly but never getting the cash.
“He’s rock hard, race fit so the four weeks between runs won’t worry him.”
The stable could also be represented by Formal, who holds nominations for a Benchmark 78 sprint over 1100m at Rosehill and a race at Doomben, with a final decision on his program yet to be made.
