The Hawkes Racing team has claimed two of the three stakes races for the new season’s three-year-olds so far and is well placed to win the next.
San Domenico Stakes winner Star Turn heads the opening market for Saturday’s Group Two Run To The Rose at Rosehill while his stablemate, Up And Coming stakes winner Divine Prophet is the top pick for the $1 million Golden Rose two weeks later.
The Run To The Rose (1200m) is a chance for many others to cement a berth in the Group One Golden Rose.
So far the Hawkes pair has shown how well they have developed from their juvenile season and rival trainer Chris Waller has a couple he hopes can do the same.
Waller will run stakes winner Cellarman and new stable recruit Nikitas as they try to cement positions in the Golden Rose field.
Cellarman has two seconds and a Listed win in Brisbane from his four starts while Nikitas ran second to Capitalist in the Magic Millions Classic and was a close third in the Group Two BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes,
“The Run To The Rose will tell us if Cellarman has made sufficient improvement to run in the Golden Rose,” Waller said.
“It’s a big step from two to three.
“Nikitas is a nice horse. He is still fairly new to the stable and we are still learning about him.”
One thing in pair’s favour is that Cellarman’s Listed win came over 1400 metres, the distance of the Golden Rose, while Nikitas worked home well over 1350m in the Sires’ Produce Stakes.
Senior trainer John Hawkes said after Divine Prophet’s win he believed he would be the pick of the stable’s two colts to get over a distance while Star Turn seemed more of a sprinter.
Cellarman is at $35 in early markets for the Run To The Rose with Nikitas at $61.
The Run To The Rose also features the return of El Divino, a half brother to champion mare Winx and unbeaten in his two starts.
