Cautious approach with Dawn Patrol
Trainer Frank Ritchie is taking no chances with stable star Dawn Patrol in the build-up to the rich Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie later this month.
Ritchie had the Dawn Approach gelding down to contest a three-yearold 1600m event at Ellerslie yesterday as his final lead-up event before the Classic but withdrew him after he spiked a temperature following some light work at Cambridge on Saturday morning.
“We worked him in the morning and when he came off the track, he just hadn’t put in like we thought he should,” Ritchie said. “It wasn’t anything major, but we got the vet to him and he found the horse had a slightly elevated temperature.”
While disappointed in missing the race, Ritchie is confident he will have Dawn Patrol at peak for his major assignment at Ellerslie on January 26.
Meanwhile, Madison County became a dual Group One winner when he took out the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Pins gelding won the Gr.1 Two Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
Fellow Cambridge visitors Hypnos and Vernanme dead-heated for second.
Forsman indicated Madison County would now be aimed at the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie in a fortnight.