Whypeeo faces a tough Heath field
GOLD Coast trainer Toby Edmonds hopes he is catching the bigger-name sprinters at the right time and at a distance short of their best when Whypeeo resumes in a red-hot Heath (1100m) at Caulfield today.
Whypeeo has won two of his three first-up runs but never in the kind of company he meets today.
The opposition includes Stradbroke winner Santa Ana Lane and fellow Group 1 winner Brave Smash, both of which are locked in for The Everest starts, plus in-form Voodoo Lad and Japanese mystery runner Kemono.
Voodoo Lad is the early $3.30 favourite with Ladbrokes, with Kemono at $5.50, Brave Smash $7.50 and Santa Ana Lane $8. Whypeeo is an $11 chance. “It is Melbourne spring time, so you can’t pick and choose,” Edmonds said.
“I didn’t think it would come up that solid but it is what it is.
“That said, I wouldn’t think Santa Ana Lane and Brave Smash will be that wound up.”
Whypeeo won a Gold Coast trial on August 7 and has had a jumpout since arriving in Melbourne.
Edmonds said today’s race would determine what targets he sets out for the son of I Am Invincible this spring.
Stablemate Granny Red Shoes is a probable scratching from the McNeil Stakes, with Edmonds’ preference to wait another week to take on her own sex at Moonee Valley, rather than take on the boys today.