While most of his trainer’s attention will be on a 2000-metre race at Flemington, Tangled gets the chance to show what he can do at Randwick.
Chris Waller will be overseeing Winx’s bid for a 14th Group One win in the Turnbull Stakes on Saturday while Tangled will be aiming for his first in the Spring Champion Stakes 2017.
Waller believes the colt is making his way back to winning form after a slump at the end of his two-year-old season.
Tangled made an excellent start to his previous preparation by ticking off his maiden and then winning the Group Two Champagne Classic (1200m) at Doomben in May.
His performances subsequently tailed off in Queensland when he was unplaced in the Group Two Sires’ Produce Stakes on a heavy track at Eagle Farm and was again well back in the Group One J J Atkins at Doomben.
He returned from a spell in the Group Two Run To The Rose on September 9 and faded from fourth to finish more than eight lengths adrift of winner Menari.
Despite that sequence of results, trainer Waller was optimistic following Tangled’s luckless fourth as the topweight in last Saturday’s Listed Dulcify Quality (1600m) at Randwick.
“He wasn’t suited by the weights and he had a chequered path in the straight,” Waller said.
Stepping Tangled to 2000 metres on a seven-day back-up does not concern Sydney’s premier trainer.
“That race hasn’t taken anything out of him. If anything it’s helped him. He looks good, he’s a good strong colt,” he said.
Waller said he never lost faith in the three-year-old after his failure to build on his Champagne Classic victory.
“What he did as a two-year-old was pretty special in terms of he wasn’t quite ready for it. He was an immature horse,” he said.
“He’s a more mature horse now. His run on Saturday was the run of a winner.”
Tangled was on the third line of betting with CrownBet on Thursday as a $5 chance behind the David Payne-trained Gloaming Stakes winner Ace High ($3.50) and runner-up Sanctioned ($4.40).
Three of the past five winners of the Gloaming (1800m) have gone on to win the Spring Champion Stakes including the Waller-trained Vanbrugh two years ago.
Waller also expects improvement from Dawn Wall in the Group Three Angst Stakes (1600m) after the mare’s fifth in the Group Two Shannon Stakes on September 23.
“She was a bit plain, but her work’s been good since,” he said.
“I thought about giving her three weeks between runs and running her in an easier race but she deserves a chance in this race.”
The market has Dawn Wall at $7 behind the Ron Quinton-trained duo Dixie Blossoms ($4.40) and Daysee Doom ($4.60).
