An outside draw isn’t expected to be an impediment for in-form gelding King Of Hastings as he bids to build on his strong Randwick record in the Listed Winter Stakes.
The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained galloper will jump from barrier 14 in Saturday’s feature and stable representative Brad Taylor expects it to suit the six-year-old’s racing style.
“The wide draw is probably a positive for him,” Taylor said.
“He’s not the sort of horse that he has been, tucked away at his last couple of starts, he’s a free-going galloper who doesn’t really quicken but he can maintain a good gallop.
“When he won at Randwick a while ago he sat three-deep on speed and kept going, so fingers crossed he can replicate that performance.”
King Of Hastings showed above-average ability early in his career, placing in the 2019 McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield and notching a Listed win in the 2021 Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast.
A couple of flat campaigns over the past 12 months has had the trainers scratching their heads but the decision to send the horse back to Sydney this preparation has produced the desired turnaround.
King Of Hastings flashed home for a first-up third to Lady Of Luxury after being baulked for a run at the top of the straight, then finished a fighting second to Ucalledit in the Civic Stakes despite copping a severe bump and being tightened for room.
Taylor feels the horse appreciates racing in the clockwise direction and says the expansive Randwick circuit, where King Of Hastings has a win and two placings from four starts, has been key to his form revival.
“He just lost his way a bit last preparation, but he’s returned in really good order this time,” Taylor said.
“He might just go better this way around and he seems to race well at Randwick every time he goes there.
“He won there as a four-year-old and obviously his last two runs have been really good.”
With the early scratching of the fancied Brigantine, King Of Hastings is a $9.50 chance for the Winter Stakes (1400m) with Cotehele a $4.60 favourite, although trainer John O’Shea has confirmed Cotehle is likely to bypass the Randwick race in favour of the South Grafton Cup (1610m) on Sunday.