Newcastle trainer Paul Perry has a big decision to make with his three-year-old Perast after he won the Group Three Fred Best Classic at Doomben.
Perast ($4.40) led all the way in near darkness after the races were delayed for 90 minutes because of concerns about the track.
The Fred Best Classic is a ballot-free race for the Group One Stradbroke Handicap on June 9 which is run on the same day as the Group Two Queensland Guineas.
Perry’s son Shannon said his father had planned to run Perast in the Guineas over 1600m in preference to the 1350m of the Stradbroke.
“But he is in the Stradbroke field now and we will have to have a very big think. Three-year-olds have a great record in the Stradbroke and he is a stallion,” Perry said.
“I suppose to win a Group One race is a high priority.”
Perast firmed to $15 for the Stradbroke with the Kingsford Smith Cup winner Impending the favourite at $5.
Perast is raced by a syndicate headed by prominent Sydney owner Frank Cook whose other runner Sambro was a late scratching.
“It wasn’t nice to see Sambro scratched but this makes up for it. We had a winner in Sydney as well so it has been a good day in the end,” Cook said.
The eye-catching run of the race was Mishani Bullitt ($41) who flew home to finish third.
“I can hardly wait to get him to 1600m in the Guineas,” trainer Chris Anderson said.
