SLOT HOLDERS IN AN APACHE CHASE
DESLEIGH Forster will set Apache Chase on a path towards Rockhampton’s new rich slot race The Archer in the winter on the way to the Stradbroke Handicap, with the trainer revealing slot holders have already reached out to her.
The gelding just missed out on Magic Millions glory on Saturday, going down in a head-bobbing finish to Eleven Eleven in the $1m Cup and Forster says she will bypass the Sydney autumn completely with him to focus on the Brisbane winter.
Racing the week before the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 there were question marks over which horses would target the $440,000 slot race but Forster says its timing is perfect for a horse on a Stradbroke Handicap campaign.
“It fits in perfect for him, it’s 1300m first-up on May 7, three weeks into the (Group 1) Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) and then two weeks into the Stradbroke,” she said.
“He is already in the Stradbroke so they can’t really handicap him for it.”
Winning the Listed Weetwood Handicap first up in September, Apache Chase has effectively been up for four months, with a trip to Sydney for the Golden Eagle included in there.
“He has had a pretty long campaign, I know it has been spaced but he has been up for a while so he will go out and have a month off from
Tuesday and be set for The Archer first up,” Forster said.
Big-time slot holders for The Archer include Aquis and Max Whitby, who both also hold slots into the super-rich The Everest.
The 12 slot holders pay $35,000 per year for a spot in the weight-for-age 1300m sprint.
It comes as Forster confirmed her top two-yearold Exo Lady would also bypass any autumn campaign and target the Brisbane winter instead.