An encouraging debut has convinced Brad Widdup to roll the dice and give Anthropoid an opportunity to stake his Magic Millions claims in the $1 million Golden Gift at Rosehill.
The colt finished an eye-catching fourth in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) when getting back to last and hitting the line stylishly and the extra 100m of Saturday’s feature looks made to order.
While Widdup originally planned to give Anthropoid just one start this spring, the colt’s effort prompted him to press on, and if he can measure up in the Golden Gift, a trip to Queensland for the Magic Millions Classic (1200m) in January could await.
“I wasn’t going to push on too much further than the other day, but he didn’t get a fair crack at them really, and he was good late,” Widdup said.
“He is a Magic Millions horse. I don’t want to keep thinning out the string, but we will see what happens. We’ll get through Saturday and see what sort of prizemoney he earns.
“If he runs below par, he will have a good break and if he races well, we probably have to freshen him up and think about it.”
By second season sire Prague, Anthropoid cost $180,000 and is owned by Mulberry Racing, which has been increasing its industry involvement over the past couple of seasons.
They were slot holders in this year’s The Everest and race the Widdup-trained Jedibeel, who will contest the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday while the trainer also has Sunset Park in the Matriarch Stakes (2000m).
Widdup said Anthropoid caught their eye at the sales and he’d been buoyed by the recent city win of the juvenile’s Exceedance half-sister Stagnum, who is prepared by Team Hawkes.
“He was a really nice horse at the sales and he looked buyable at a sale that is pretty hard to buy at,” he said.
“He has always been a very straightforward horse, a sensible colt. He will only improve as he gets older and he’s ticking over nicely.”
Tyler Schiller will partner Anthropoid from the inside gate.
