Summer Passage needs to turn up heat
Lance O’Sullivan concedes Summer Passage needs to lift at Flemington to give Saturday’s A$1 million Group I Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) field a fright and he’s banking on a gear addition for that extra edge.
The Matamata horseman, who trains with Andrew Scott, said the three-year-old’s efforts in Melbourne have been satisfactory, but improvement is required.
‘‘He’s in great order and I certainly can’t fault the way he looks in the coat and he’s very bright in the eye,’’ he said.
‘‘If you look at his runs he hasn’t been far away, but he does need to find a length or two.’’
Summer Passage opened his campaign when eighth in the Group II Danehill Stakes (1200m) and then finished runner-up in the Group III Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) and sixth in the Group III Blue Sapphire Stakes (1200m).
‘‘He missed away a bit in the Blue Sapphire and Hugh Bowman then gave him a beautiful ride and he came in and said in his opinion we could very seriously look at adding blinkers so we’ve opted to do that this time,’’ O’Sullivan said.
‘‘He’s done plenty of pace work and a bit of fast work in them so we’re hoping.
‘‘They seem quite an even bunch of three-year-olds and there’s no real stand out this year, the fillies look a bit stronger if anything.’’
O’Sullivan said Summer Passage is still developing and the best might be to come after Christmas.
‘‘I would have liked to see him carrying a bit more condition, he’s fractionally light and he might bloom in the autumn. He has grown quite a bit in the last two or three months.’’
Summer Passage will be ridden on Saturday by Blake Shinn, who guided the son of Snitzel to victory in last season’s Group I Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie.
Meanwhile, Sam Weatherley, the champion New Zealand apprentice is attached to O’Sullivan and Scott’s Wexford Stables operation will further his racing experience in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, next week.
Weatherley, who will be accompanied by New Zealand Thoroughbred riding mentor Noel Harris, will attend the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA) Training and Education Conference.
The 18-year-old will leave Auckland on Tuesday night, after riding at Ellerslie that day and return on November 13.
Weatherley will not have a race ride in Abu Dhabi but will partici- pate in the jockey workshops, which will focus on video replay analysis, techniques for interacting with media and use of social media platforms. Expert advice will be provided by leading riding coaches from around the world.
❚ Danica Guy is putting her faith in apprentice Jasmine Fawcett on Saturday.
The Matamata trainer has booked the 24-year-old to partner the capable mare Galaxy Miss in the Quickcount Handicap (1300m) at Tauranga.
‘‘I think she’s competitivelyplaced at the weights and I’m giving Jasmine a go even though it’s not a claiming race,’’ Guy said.
‘‘The biggest positive with Jasmine is that she rides to instructions. She’s riding well and I think she’s got a good future.’’
Galaxy Miss has a couple of wins and four placings from her last eight appearances and is coming off an unplaced effort in the Listed Matamata Cup (1600m).
‘‘I’m very happy with her and she had a little freshen-up after Matamata,’’ Guy said. ‘‘She had a few days in the paddock and that’s why she’s dropping back in distance. She’s very well though.’’
She has no firm plans for the daughter of Tavistock, although a return to stakes racing is on the agenda at some stage.
‘‘Obviously the goal is to get some black type somewhere but it’s a bit race by race with her,’’ Guy said.
‘‘She’s not a horse you can easily set for a specific race.
‘‘She’s quite quirky and needs a gap between runs but we’ll get there.’’
Another mare in the team for which black type is on the wish list is the talented Nomisma.
The multiple winner was out of the money last time out at Ellerslie where she was unable to get clear galloping room in the straight.
‘‘She’s a very big mare and she can’t handle any traffic problems, she’s not stop-start,’’ Guy said.
‘‘Her sectionals were really good and she just needs a bit of luck on her side.’’
❚ Victorian jockey Jake Bayliss is coming to New Zealand to fill a unique role. He will be riding for the Matamata training partnerships of Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard at Ballymore Stables and for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott at Wexford Stables.
‘‘Mike Moroney called me on Tuesday morning and asked me to dinner that night to meet someone and it was Lance O’Sullivan,’’ Bayliss said.
‘‘They asked a few questions and then asked me to come to New Zealand for between four and six months and ride for both of them.
’’I’ve ridden quite a few winners for Mike, he’s been a good supporter of mine in Melbourne.
‘‘There will be some great opportunities for me in New Zealand over the summer carnivals so I’m really looking forward it.’’
Bayliss isn’t a complete stranger to New Zealand having crossed the Tasman in 2015 to ride Iffraaj’s daughter Trinity Hill in the Group I New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) for expatriate Kiwi trainer Francis Finnegan, now based at Cranbourne.
They finished seventh in the Riccarton classic behind Risque.