Success in a rich restricted two-year-old race at Caulfield has seen the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Kings Consort pay a hefty price.
But with the Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday run under set-weights, the time may be right for Kings Consort to shine.
Kings Consort has only one win from 10 starts, that victory coming in the $1 million VOBIS Showdown, a race restricted to horses that were based in Victoria at the time of conception.
The $557,000 first prize money saw Kings Consort invariably at, or near, the top of the weights as he embarked on a late spring three-year-old campaign.
Last Saturday at Ballarat in the VOBIS Gold Stockade (1400m), Kings Consort was forced to give weight to his opposition, before finishing third, whereas on Saturday he meets them on level weight terms.
Brad Taylor, the racing manager for the father-and-son training team said that will a benefit for the three-year-old as will the capacity field of 16 runners.
“He didn’t have a hard run last week, so we’ll back him up,” Taylor said.
“It was on a testing track, in testing conditions, but he came through it really well.
“He’s racing this time like he wants the step up to the mile and he will be suited back to the set-weights as he’s had to carry that penalty in those three-year-old races.
I think the better ground will suit and the bigger field will generate a bit of tempo as well, so hopefully they’re running on and it can bring a backmarker like him into it.
“He races well at Caulfield, the step up to the mile suits and we’re looking for to Saturday.”
With Ethan Brown out suspended, Caulfield Cup winning jockey Michael Dee has picked up the ride.
