Carbine Club Stakes winner Perfect Thought and smart sprinter Quantico enjoyed a spin around Randwick on Saturday in an exhibition gallop between races, with the former holding a narrow advantage on the line.
A rangey son of So You Think, Perfect Thought struggled to produce his best on a spate of heavy tracks during the Sydney spring but showed his true potential with a classy victory in the Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Derby day.
Trainer John Sargent is upbeat about the three-year-old’s autumn prospects and keen to get Perfect Thought to Group 1 grade.
“He will run here in two weeks in the Eskimo Prince (Stakes), two weeks into the Hobartville (Stakes) and then either the Australian Guineas or Randwick Guineas,” Sargent said.
“Any horse that wins the Carbine is an exciting horse.
“He seems to have come up nice and strong this time in and that will be his main aim, to get him peaking third-up (in a Guineas).”
The John O’Shea-trained Quantico has shown tremendous promise in winning six of his 11 starts but has raced just once in the past 14-months, his most recent appearance coming in the Newmarket Handicap in March when he finished midfield.
The six-year-old has been plagued by a combination of wet tracks and untimely setbacks, but has the makings of a top-class sprinter if O’Shea can get him right.
