Country stayer Lautaro upset some big names at the recent Scone carnival and his trainer is looking to bring him to town where he believes he can measure up again.
The gelding won over 2200 metres as a $21 chance on May 13, beating odds-on favourite Interlocuter from the Godolphin stable with horses trained by Chris Waller, Peter and Paul Snowden and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in his wake.
Albury-based Andrew Dale is now eyeing off Saturday’s Listed McKell Cup (2400m) at Randwick as the preferred option over a race at the same distance at Sandown.
He has booked leading Sydney apprentice Andrew Adkins who was aboard when Lautaro won at Scone.
“We are heading to Sydney at this stage,” Dale said.
“I just need to get my head around the depth of the race.
“It was never part of the planning but we are looking at taking him to Brisbane for the back end of the carnival and this fits in with that.
“All the better stayers are up in Brisbane now.
“He’s a progressive stayer and at the weights I think he can be competitive.”
Lautaro was one of 14 entries taken on Monday headed by the Anthony and Edward Cummings-trained Top Of My List who is Brisbane Cup-bound.
Dale’s ambitions for Lautaro don’t extend that far but he is eyeing off Queensland races at Caloundra and Ipswich.
“There’s a country stayers series up there with the final at Ipswich,” he said.
Dale believes Lautaro is better on soft to heavy tracks which he is likely to get in Queensland.
The trainer bought Lautaro from Kevin Myers in New Zealand where the gelding’s eight starts were all on dead to heavy ground.
Another former New Zealander, Saturday’s Rosehill winner Broadside, is one of two McKell Cup entries for Waterhouse and Bott, joining Multitude.
Premier Sydney Waller’s three nominations include Richard Of Yorke and Great Glen who finished behind Lautaro at Scone.
