Pat Carey says The Goodwood was a race that got away from his Stakes winner Recon.
The Group 1 race at Morphettville over 1200m on May 9 was Recon’s first try at a Group 1 contest and came on top of victory in the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington three weeks early.
After his past two runs at Stakes level, trainers Pat Carey and Harris Walker have decided to step Recon up in trip when he runs in the Stow Storage Solutions Handicap (1400m) at Sandown on Saturday.
Carey said Saturday’s outing would be Recon’s second at 1400m and will potentially set him up for spring assignments, while also giving the trainer’s a guide to his future.
But The Goodwood is a race that Carey said Recon should have finished closer in, rather than being 1-¼ lengths behind the winner Desert Lightning in sixth spot.
“He got into an awkward position, he charged at the line late, but he ran out of room and that was a great opportunity that went missing,” Carey said.
“He’s progressing through the grades well and it looks like he’s open to continued improvement, but he needs to get into a proper handicap now.
“What I mean by a proper handicap, not a quasi-race where they’ve got set weights and penalties at Group 1, as in my mind, that’s a bit of a nonsense.
“It maybe now that he sneaks into a race like the Sir Rupert Clarke on the minimum, or something like that, but he’s got to continue to improve to warrant that consideration.”
Two races that come to mind for Carey in the spring are the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield and the Group 2 Damien Oliver at Flemington.
Both those races are at 1400m, and Carey said he wanted to see Recon once again at the trip having finished fifth in his only previous attempt.
“He’s had one try, at Flemington, just before we gave him a short break,” Carey said.
“He got busted up at the start and didn’t have a lot of luck and rattled home.
“He needs to become a little more tactical and I’m sure there’s another nice race in him having already won the Hareeba.
He’s four, rising five this year, so he’s entering into a good time maturity wise and is a lovely prospect for the next 12 months.
“Hopefully we can do him justice.”