John O’Shea is banking on a vital gear change to bring out the best in talented three-year-old Acrophobic when he contests the Hawkesbury Guineas.
The gelding has been competitive in some handy races, finishing fourth to Peltzer in the Stan Fox Stakes during the spring and filling the same placing behind Ellsberg last start in the Listed South Pacific Classic.
O’Shea is hoping the addition of blinkers for Saturday’s 1400 metre feature can help Acrophobic find the extra couple of lengths required to land his second career win.
“He has been desperate for a set of blinkers and they will go on this week and we’ll see a better horse,” O’Shea said.
After the scratching of Holyfield, who will instead run in the Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm, 10 runners are set to contest the G3 race with Acrophobic’s last-start conqueror Ellsberg an early favourite.
O’Shea said his charge would have at least one more run in Sydney in two weeks before a decision was made on whether to target the Brisbane winter carnival.
“We’re going to run in the Inglis Guineas and if we get to Queensland, we get to Queensland, but there’s no great rush to get there,” he said.
Stablemate Opacity will resume in a 1300m benchmark race at Hawkesbury, the first step in a campaign aimed at striking forgiving winter tracks.
The four-year-old showed good early promise to win five of his first seven starts but struggled to take the next step on mainly firm ground last spring.
O’Shea expects him to improve deeper into his campaign as he is stepped up in journey.
“He needs to get his toe in the ground and that’s why we’ve got him in work when we do,” O’Shea said.
“We’ll just potter about in May and hopefully in June and July he’ll be able to pick up a race or two, which would be great.”
