Bendigo trainer Tim Fitzsimmons has for months been planning a raid on one of the last Stakes races in Australia for the season.
The Listed Lightning Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville is one of three races that carries ‘Black Type’ across the country, joined by the Listed H G Bolton Sprint (1200m) at Belmont and the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Fitzsimmons is Morphettville bound with Yuuki, a two-time winner from nine starts, for the race restricted to two and three-year-olds at set-weights.
Yuuki registered her maiden win at Swan Hill three starts back and followed up with victory at Seymour before returning to Swan Hill, finishing sixth to the highly regarded Cruiserweight on June 7 at her most recent outing.
On July 14, Yuuki won a Bendigo jump-out over 700m to have her in order for Saturday.
“She’s going really well,” Fitzsimmons said.
“She didn’t have much luck at her last start when she was four-wide with no cover at Swan Hill, but that has proven to be a pretty strong form race with Cruiserweight coming out and winning and her form was pretty hard to fault before that.
“She’s always run into a good one. Point Barrow, then Celtics and Cruiserweight and even the horse she beat in her maiden, Scoobartie, has come out and won two convincingly.
“She’s drawn wide, which is a pain, but we’re hoping for a bit more rain as she loves it with a bit of sting out.
“We’re chasing some ‘Black Type’ as the owner wants to breed with her eventually and this has been a long-range plan. We planned this race six months ago.
“Hopefully we can get a nice run from that gate, and it seems at Morphettville they do get away from the fence, so hopefully it’s not the worst place to be.”
Queensland-based Kyle Wilson-Taylor has been booked to ride Yuuki, along with Fitzsimmons-trained stablemates Olatunde and Blazing Sword.
Fitzsimmons explained he wanted to take his own rider across to ride his trio, in particular Yuuki in the main race of the day.
“We asked Michael Rodd who came to Albury for us earlier on, but he couldn’t make it,” Fitzsimmons said.
“We used Kyle when I was in Singapore and he came up and rode Golden Monkey, so there’s that connection.
“I like the way he rides, he’s a patient rider, and he jumped at the opportunity, so it was good to lock someone in early and not have to worry about it.”
