Retirement didn’t work out for rising 11-year-old gelding Stanzout so his owner-trainer Colin Davies decided to give him another chance at the racing game.
Davies, who has just six horses in his stable, including Stanzout’s younger brother Stanzior who won at Cranbourne last week, said the gelding enjoyed his first month in the paddock but after that started sulking.
“I put him back in work and he just loves it,” Davies said.
He won a barrier trial on Tuesday which was enough to give Davies confidence that Stanzout will be competitive when he runs in Saturday’s Listed Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield.
Stanzout, who has earned almost $850,000 in his seven seasons of racing, last ran in November at Ballarat and will be ridden on Saturday by Melbourne’s leading jockey Glen Boss.
“Glen has wanted to ride him so I rang him to see if he was available,” Davies said.
Stanzout has run many of his best races in the period in between the major carnivals, finishing fourth in the Monash in 2011 and having won country Victoria’s premier sprint, the Wangoom Handicap at Warrnambool’s May meeting.
Davis, a publican at Koo-Wee-Rup, has not mapped out a spring carnival program for Stanzout saying it depends on how he goes on Saturday.
But if he runs well fresh then Davies may look at entering him in the Group Three Bletchingly Stakes on July 27.
Davies said Stanzout would appreciate some rain in Melbourne before Saturday to take the sting out of the ground at Caulfield.
“Being first up he won’t want a heavy track but I would like to see it slow,” Davies said.
The Monash has already suffered an early casualty with the Newcastle galloper Atomic Force scratched after he drew barrier 10 leaving the Oakleigh Plate winner Mrs Onassis as the nominal favourite.
