Triple Group One-winning sprinter Redkirk Warrior will step up to 1400 metres in the C F Orr Stakes at Caulfield to strengthen his bid for a start in the All-Star Mile.
Saturday’s Group One race will be the fifth time in 14 starts for Lindsay Park that the eight-year-old has raced beyond 1200m.
At his second start after his arrival from England via Hong Kong, Redkirk Warrior won over 1500m at Sandown in November 2016.
After a disappointing trip to England last year and failing to recapture his form during the spring, the stable has decided to step the gelding up in distance.
“He’s got that lovely big action so he might enjoy the trip again,” co-trainer Tom Dabernig said.
“Before he went to Hong Kong he raced over 2000 metres in England but after he sprinted so well we kept him to shorter trips.
“We’ve started working him over a bit longer and he doesn’t turn a hair, if anything he looks like he’s enjoying it.
“It might bring another aspect to him that we haven’t seen before we got him.”
Redkirk Warrior will again be ridden by Regan Bayliss before the jockey heads to Hong Kong later this month.
So Si Bon will also run for the Lindsay Park team with Luke Nolen in the saddle.
Nolen is no stranger to Orr Stakes success winning four times in five years aboard Peter Moody-trained horses, including Black Caviar in 2012.
Like Redkirk Warrior, So Si Bon is on a path towards the All-Star Mile and hasn’t raced since finishing second at Flemington on January 12.
Dabernig said the gelding was finally losing the coltish behaviour that led to him being barred and undergoing a gelding operation last winter.
“He looks big and full and shiny and a few of those mannerisms he had are fading away,” Dabernig said.
“Sometimes they can take a little time to change their habits and that’s what’s happening with him.
“The trip fresh won’t be a problem but he’s probably a 1600, 1800 or 2000-metre horse now.
“If he happened to win, and he’s in the All-Star Mile, it wouldn’t do him any harm.”
There were 22 entries taken on Monday for the Orr, the first Autralian Group One race for 2019.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au
