Toowoomba based trainer Rex Lipp was less than pleased with the ride aboard his stable star Cifrado last start in the Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich, prompting a jockey change for this Saturday’s Listed Glasshouse Handicap at Sunshine Coast.
Lipp voiced his frustration with Boris Thornton’s ride at Ipswich when held up on numerous occasions, going to the line virtually untested after being badly checked at the 100-metre mark.
The five-year-old gelding will instead be ridden by Ben Thompson on Saturday, with Lipp saying he has the Group 2 BRC Sires winner in career best form.
“He’s got over his problems he had last preparation,” Lipp said.
“I don’t think the horse has looked better for twelve months – I think he’s going as good as I’ve ever had him.
“He (Thornton) knows, he’s ridden the horse before and you don’t go looking for runs on him unless you can drive a bus through because he winds up, he’s not a stop-start horse as you can see from his two previous runs.
“But anyway, we’ll put that down as ‘don’t let it happen again’.”
Cifrado first debuted over 900m at Gold Coast early in his two-year-old season, going on to win both the Sprit Of Boom Classic and BRC Sires at Group 2 level and has added stakes wins at three, four and five and while Lipp would love to add a third Group 1 win to his resume, he’s happy placing Cifrado in his right grade for the meantime.
“If I can find the right race later on I’ll take him South (to Sydney),” Lipp said.
“He ran fifth in The Hunter at Newcastle beaten a length and a half and had a chequered run but anyway, that’s the story of Cifrado, he should’ve won.
“Anyway, he worked nice and strong on the bit on the course proper Tuesday morning at Toowoomba and I’m very happy with him ahead of Saturday.”
Cifrado was one of 36 nominations for the Glasshouse Handicap over 1400m on Saturday and was on the second line of all-in betting at $6 behind Bjorn Baker’s Midnight Dynamite who is also nominated for the Winter Stakes at Rosehill Gardens.
