Stakes winner Dreams Aplenty takes the first step towards the Melbourne spring on Saturday and his trainer John Zielke has an extra reason to hope the four-year-old has returned in top form.
Dreams Aplenty will be having his first run since finishing 14th in the Group Two Queensland Guineas on June 10 when he races at Doomben.
Zielke believes the Guineas run was no indication of Dream Aplenty’s ability against stakes horses.
“The funny thing is we had him sold for $1.1 million to Hong Kong last year but the deal fell through,” Zeilke said.
“But he won four on end for us in the winter including the Group Three Gunsynd Stakes and the Darling Downs Guineas.
“He failed on a bog Eagle Farm track in the Fred Best Stakes.
But the Guineas was run at Doomben and he got squeezed out at the start and couldn’t get into his usual free-wheeling pattern.”
Zielke is convinced Dreams Aplenty can be competitive in stakes races in Melbourne in the spring.
“If he races well on Saturday we will put him on a plane and head to some of the 1600-metre races in the south,” he said.
Zielke is a huge fan of Dreams APlenty’s sire Dream Ahead and has put his money where his mouth is with many horses in his stable by the stallion.
“I think we also have had 14 mares get in foal to him. I predicted from early on he could be the next Snitzel and he is heading that way,” Zielke said.
“I suppose it is a reason I like to see Dreams Aplenty and the others do well for the sire.”
Zielke set a Queensland record for the number of two-year-old winners two seasons ago and looks set to have another great juvenile year.
He provided all eight runners in the first official two-year-old trial of the season in Toowoomba on Tuesday.
“I was happy the way things turned out and I think at least six of the eight runners will win early races,” he said.
