Jon Snow home after race loss
Jon Snow’s Melbourne spring campaign has come to an end after he tailed the field home in Saturday’s Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).
Nothing went to plan for the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained entire and the decision was made by his connections to bring him home.
“Bursting through the gates (before the start) didn’t help,” Forsman said.
“Damian (Lane, jockey) said he came out of the gates the second time and felt like a bit of a stunned mullet.
“The plan was to work forward and he couldn’t quite get there and was just planted three-wide without cover most of the way on a slow speed.
“Then they sprinted and he got left flat-footed.
“Nothing really worked out and at that level things really do have to go your way.”
While disappointed in his run, Forsman said Jon Snow has pulled up really well and is in top order, but a lack of options for him has put an end to his spring preparation. “He’s great, he looks outstanding,” Forsman said.
“That is the most disappointing thing, he’s in such good order.
“But at this level there is no hiding when things don’t fall into place.
“There were just a lack of options for him here heading forward. In terms of weightfor-age, basically it was the Emirates (Gr.1, 2000m) on the last day of the carnival.
“That is going to be very competitive and looks another level-up, with those internationals, from what he competed against in the Makybe Diva (Gr.1, 1600m). So that was always a hard race to wait around for.
“If we considered a handicap he is just too poorly off in the handicaps to be fair to him.”
The Group One-winning son of Iffraaj flew home yesterday for a freshen-up before the five-year-old’s connections eye autumn spoils.
“We thought we might just be better off to bring him home, give him a little freshen-up and target a weight-for-age race at home and then consider our options heading into the autumn.”
Meanwhile, the Cambridge training duo still have Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) contender Zacada vying for a spot in the two-mile feature.
The Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) runner-up was set to contest the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m) yesterday and Forsman is hoping for big things from the Zabeel sixyear-old.
“He’s really good, he finally looks sharp and fit like he might be ready to do something, so he looks to be peaking at the right time.”