Stakes in Sangster rising for Houtzen
BRILLIANT Gold Coast sprinter Houtzen will have her next start in next month’s Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes at Morphettville.
Trainer Toby Edmonds confirmed Houtzen would be on a May 1 flight from Sydney to Adelaide before running in the $1 million Sangster Stakes (1200m) on May 5, which already is shaping as a blockbuster.
Houtzen, who won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic as a two-year-old, locked in a Sangster berth with a win in the Group 3 $200,000 PJ Bell Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday when she took a sit just off the pace and fought hard to hold off Manicure and Problem Solver.
“The Sangster will be her next start,” Edmonds said. “There’s a bit of improvement in her, so now we’ve got a month to get her right for what’s going to be a terrific race.
“There were some doubts whether she was the genuine type being such a precocious two-year-old.
“We knew we had her quite underdone coming here a month ago when she ran third. She’s a much bigger and stronger filly now. She is turning into a mare.”
Jockey Glyn Schofield, who is expected to retain the ride in the Sangster, was full of praise for the flying threeyear-old.
“She was very brave,” Schofield said. “The pace was very, very strong. She stalked it and took over like she was going to win easily.
“When she got challenged I felt she was going to give up but in the back of my mind she reminded me of what she did last time when she fought strongly.”
Likely Sangster rivals Viddora, It’s Been a Battle and Whispering Brook all expected to tune up in the Group 3 $120,000 Irwin Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville in a fortnight.