Unbeaten juvenile Highvol is on track for a potential tilt at the Group 1 J.J. Atkins (1600m) in Queensland next month, with trainer Nick Ryan confirming the promising two-year-old is likely to continue his campaign north after another strong performance at Flemington.
The son of Microphone, whose sire recently relocated to South America, made it two wins from as many starts when backing up his debut victory with another sharp performance over the challenging 1400m course last weekend.
“Super effort again, two-from-two now,” Ryan said on Monday.
“I thought he tracked a lot better, he raced a lot better. Obviously, he’d shown us that general progression and that he’d come on from his first win in trackwork and it showed on Saturday.”
Ryan confirmed Highvol had come through the race well and is a strong chance to head to Queensland in the coming days to contest the Group 2 Sires’ Produce Stakes ahead of the J.J. Atkins.
“He’ll either fly Tuesday night, or next Tuesday night. I might give him a few days to get over the run, but we’ll just see,” he said.
“He’s looking like he will go Sires’ (Produce) and then J.J. (Atkins).”
Highvol’s composure and intelligence have been key to managing his early career, with Ryan confident the gelding can handle travel and the interstate challenge.
“He’s a very quick learner, we’ve actually been galloping him the reverse way the last couple of weeks,” Ryan said.
“He’s a readymade racehorse … we’ll just cruise into the Sires’, he could fly up next week and it wouldn’t be an issue.
“His grand final will be the J.J. and then we’ll put him away. It’s all sort of performance-based, how he pulls up, as to when we bring him back for the spring.
“We’ll let him tell us.”
Punters looking to back Highvol in the Sires’ Produce Stakes or the J.J. Atkins can find the latest odds at Australia’s top betting sites.
