Kendrick trio primed

TRAINER Stuart Kendrick is confident he has put everything in place to give Tambo’s Mate, Star Of Michelin and Way Beyond their chance to overcome distance obstacles at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Kendrick is attempting to pull some rabbits out of the hat with the trio, who are all dropping sharply in distance relative to their recent racing.

Tambo’s Mate has been a stable flag-bearer for more than 12 months. He hasn’t raced since struggling at Eagle Farm over 1400m on January 2 and now with 28 days between runs, he’s back to his hometrack 1000m.

“We stepped him up in trip trying to qualify for the Magic Millions and while I thought his first two runs back were excellent, he didn’t have much luck next time at Doomben and then at Eagle Farm he overraced and wasn’t comfortable at all,” Kendrick said.

“He has won over 1350m, so he can get it, but I think he’s a better horse over the short trips. Especially as he’s got older, he appreciates being nice and fresh.

“So we’ve backed right off him, put him on the water walker, given him an easy time of it and he’s shown on the track he’s nice and sharp.”

Star Of Michelin was also seeking a Magic Millions entry but things didn’t go to plan and after runs over 2000m, 2150m and 1800m, he’s back to 1600m where he’s been most effective.

Similarly, Way Beyond is back from a failed tilt on the 2200m Grand Prix to the 1600m, where he won at four starts ago.

“He went out to our farm after that, had a nice easy week in the paddock, had a nice 1000m jumpout on Monday and went really well,” Kendrick said.