AXE LOOKING SHARP FOR MAGIC ASSAULT
AXE is returning from seven weeks off the racing scene but trainer Jack Bruce is so comfortable with the sharp sprinter’s level of fitness he would be happy if the rich Gold Coast Magic Millions raceday was this Saturday.
Axe gave new trainer Bruce the biggest win of his short training career when saluting in the Listed Weetwood Handicap in Toowoomba in September and the gelding last raced when runner-up at Eagle Farm in mid-October.
Axe returns to racing in the Group 3 George Moore Stakes (1200m) at Doomben on Saturday and Bruce said he is as fit as a fiddle and ready to rumble.
The main summer aim for Axe is likely to be the $1m Gold Coast Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) or potentially the $1m Gold Coast Magic Millions Cup (1400m) on the same day in January.
In some ways, Bruce wishes Magic Millions day was sooner.
“If the Magic Millions was on Saturday, I would be very comfortable with where Axe is at fitness wise,” Bruce said.
“He has had a little freshen up but I’ve basically kept him in work this whole time, he hasn’t really lost any fitness,” Bruce said.
“I gave him a trial last week and I was really happy with where he is at.
“He is as good as what he was at the end of his last preparation and he will go into Saturday’s race a fit commodity.
“He will be racing against pretty much the same customers on Saturday, there’s nothing in that race that screams favouritism.
“But having said that, it’s an even race and the sprinting ranks up here in Queensland are pretty strong.”
After Saturday, Bruce will assess his options as to how to get Axe to Magic Millions day in peak form.
Races like the Listed Falvelon (Doomben, December 24) and The Buffering (Doomben, December 31) would be considered as his next target. “The other thing is he has raced twice for me fresh very, very well so if he was to run well on Saturday I would have no hesitation in simply going straight to the Magic Millions,” Bruce said. “But I’ve left all my options open.”