Senior Lindsay Park trainer David Hayes is hoping a step up in distance might be the spark Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time needs to stave off retirement.
Boom Time has been entered for the latest round of the Banjo Patterson Series (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday.
A rising eight-year-old, Boom Time has disappointed Lindsay Park since resuming from a tendon injury in April.
The winner of the 2017 Caulfield Cup, Boom Time will be lining up for the fifth run of an extended preparation on Saturday.
In total Boom Time has beaten five horses home in his past four starts.
After finishing last at Flemington over 2000m on May 18 Boom Time finished 10th of 12 over the same distance at Caulfield on Saturday.
“He pulled up fine so I’m going to give him one crack at a mile-and-a-half on the weekend,” Hayes said.
“If he backs up then he’s on song, if not that will be his swan song if he doesn’t run well.
“But before I give up on him I want to try him at his best distance.”
After Boom Time’s previous owner Kim Loxton fell on hard times, Hayes took over the ownership of the entire.
He won the Caulfield Cup before going on to finish 15th behind Rekindling in the Melbourne Cup ahead of the Japan Cup in which he was 12th behind Grand Cheval.
Boom Time has been a cause of frustration for Hayes and Lindsay Park this campaign and was slapped with a warning after being difficult to load on Saturday.
“He might be at the end of it,” Hayes said.
“But he is a rising eight-year-old stallion.”
Boom Time is one of 27 stayers entered in Saturday’s race.
Other notable entries on Saturday’s program are Not Enough Effort, unbeaten in four starts, in the 1000m three-year-old handicap and Begood Toya Mother who extended his winning streak this campaign to five with victory at Caulfield on Saturday and is nominated in the fourth heat of the VRC-CRV Winter Championship.
