A seven-kilo weight turnaround has Tulloch Lodge colt Butch Cassidy in the box seat to land an overdue stakes win in the Group Three Hawkesbury Guineas.
Beaten less than a half-length by Panic in the South Pacific Classic (1400m) last start when conceding his rival six kilos, Butch Cassidy will carry a kilo less than that horse when they clash again on Saturday.
“He’s going to be much better suited here at the weight scale,” co-trainer Adrian Bott said.
“He did an excellent job last start carrying the big weight and stuck on really well.
“He has done great in between runs and the distance is probably in his real sweet spot.”
Butch Cassidy has just one win from 10 starts but his record doesn’t reflect his quality.
He is a two-time placegetter at black-type level and has stretched some of the best horses of his age group, finishing a close fourth behind subsequent Group 1 winner Cylinder in last year’s The Run To The Rose (1200m) and less than a length from Militarize when filling the same position in the Golden Rose (1400m).
His two runs this campaign have both had merit and should have him in near-peak condition for his Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) assignment.
“He has been racing at the top end all the way through and hasn’t been beaten far,” Bott said.
“He just needs a few things to fall his way to land that killer punch and win, and hopefully that’s on Saturday.”
Butch Cassidy will be one of two stakes runners for Bott and training partner Gai Waterhouse at Hawkesbury, along with New Endeavour in the Gold Cup (1600m).
Purchased prior to competing during last year’s Royal Ascot carnival, New Endeavour was then twice stakes placed in England before arriving in Australia for the Golden Eagle in which he finished eleventh.
Bott felt the horse’s extended European campaign may have come against him, but remained adamant New Endeavour could make his mark in Australia.
“He ended up having a few more runs for us in Europe and it was quite a long season for him,” Bott said.
“I think he is still adjusting and adapting to Australia, and I don’t think we’re anywhere near seeing him at his best.
“But in saying that, he has shown good improvement off his first-up run and his last trial was very good.
“He’s a very talented horse off his European form and I think we’ll see a bit more from him.”
New Endeavour will tackle the Hawkesbury Cup second-up after a sound midfield effort in the Doncaster Prelude (1500m) with the Big Dance the race connections are keen to target longer-term.
