Champion apprentice Zac Lloyd will bid to maintain his perfect record on Insurrection as the sprinter faces a distance test in the Racing And Sports Razor Sharp Handicap at Randwick.
Lloyd has a remarkable affinity with the Michael Freedman -trained speedster who he has ridden four times for as many wins, including a premiership-clinching victory in July.
After missing Insurrection’s first-up run, a fourth behind Hard To Say at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day, Lloyd was back in the saddle for The Warra (1000m) where the gelding comfortably outsprinted his rivals on a heavy track.
Saturday’s Listed assignment looks to have attracted a marginally stronger field, but Freedman says the big question mark for Insurrection is the journey.
A three-time winner over 1100 metres, the four-year-old is yet to taste success in five starts over further, although he was narrowly beaten over 1250 metres at Canterbury last spring.
“The big difference is stretching him out to 1200 metres, which is somewhat new territory for him because he has been mainly restricted to those shorter course, 1000, 1100-metre races,” Freedman said.
“But he’s a pretty mature sprinter these days and while he may have been a little bit suspect early days when he was wanting to do things a bit too aggressively, he is a bit more mentally mature now.
“It’s definitely worth trying him again because I think if we can stretch him to 1200, going forward it opens a lot more options for him.”
The winner of six of his 18 starts, Insurrection is building a handy record.
Lloyd was moved to declare the son of Russian Revolution his favourite horse after their Warra victory and Freedman said keeping the star youngster on board was a no brainer.
“I guess he doesn’t forget that the horse helped him secure the apprentices’ title last season,” Freedman said.
“He’s got a great affinity with the horse and the old saying, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.”
Lloyd currently sits fifth on the Sydney jockeys’ premiership with 21 wins and has rides in nine of the 10 races at Randwick including Hinged for Chris Waller in The Ingham (1600m), Tokyo Lady for John Sargent in the Inglis Nursery (1000m) and Victorian Excelleration in the Santa Cup (2000m).
