The absence of two of Sydney’s biggest trainers appears unlikely to stop them from making an impact at Randwick on Saturday.
Premiership leader Chris Waller is in England to put the finishing touches on Brazen Beau’s July Cup tilt, while Gai Waterhouse is overseas on her annual winter break.
Pajaro
While they won’t be trackside, Waller will have his usual strong presence with eight runners across seven races.
Waterhouse is also well represented with four runners at her home track, including Pajaro in the Shoot Out Mile.
The horse returns to the same circuit he scored over last start and Waterhouse’s stable representative Mark Newnham says that is no coincidence.
“We may as well go back to the scene of his win, a mile at Randwick, a heavy track,” Newnham said.
“He’s well weighted. It doesn’t look any harder than the race he won so you’d expect him to go pretty close to winning.”
Pajaro arrived at Tulloch Lodge after he placed in stakes company at his fourth start in New Zealand and has been patiently managed since.
Each of his racing campaigns has been restricted to four runs and again, Newnham says that has been by design.
“We’re trying to get some longevity into him, that’s what he’s been bought for. He was bought as a gelding so there’s plenty of racing life ahead of him,” Newnham said.
Pajaro will meet just four rivals at Randwick, although numbers for the remaining seven races have stood up reasonably well considering this week’s two-day Grafton carnival attracted a host of horses from Sydney.
An early scratching has reduced the field for Saturday’s two-year-old race to 11, two of them from the Waterhouse yard.
Last-start, midweek winner Kimberley Star will clash with stablemate Multitude in the TAB Rewards Handicap and Newnham said both youngsters would appreciate a distance rise to 1400 metres.
Multitude, a well-bred colt by Lonhro out of Group One placegetter My Lady’s Chamber, was fourth over 1200m at his only start at Wyong.
“He was a little bit unlucky not to run a place there,” Newnham said.
“He’s a nice colt and he’s got a future as a middle-distance horse.”
Mardi, the 61kg topweight for the TAB Place Multi Handicap, rounds out the Tulloch Lodge team.
