Black Heart Bart to run in G1 All Aged
Black Heart Bart went within a head of a Group One victory at his first start for trainer Darren Weir and gets his next chance at the top level in the All Aged Stakes.
The former West Australian galloper made his debut for the Weir stable in last month’s Newmarket Handicap at Flemington and beat all bar the fast-finishing The Quarterback.
The five-year-old again showed his quality by carrying a big weight to victory in the Group Three Victoria Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield on March 26, bringing Saturday’s All Aged Stakes onto the radar.
Kerrin McEvoy, who claimed his 52nd Group One win on Gallante in the Sydney Cup, will ride Black Heart Bart in the 1400m weight-for-age race.
Black Heart Bart will be having his sixth attempt at a Group One race. Apart from his Newmarket second, the gelding’s best results have been fourths last year in the Goodwood in Adelaide and the Railway Stakes in Perth when trained by Vaughn Sigley.
Weir has quickly formed a good opinion of Black Heart Bart.
“He’s a tough horse,” Weir said.
“He’s just a great workman-type horse with a massive will to win. And a bloody good galloper as well.”
The All Aged at Randwick has attracted 13 nominations, four from the Chris Waller stable including Kermadec and Press Statement.
Caulfield Guineas-winning colt Press Statement is one of three three-year-olds entered along with the Gai Waterhouse-trained English and the Gerald Ryan-trained Perignon.
While Black Heart Bart has the chance to add to Weir’s 11 career Group One wins on Saturday, Victoria’s premier trainer will need to wait until the spring to unveil new stable recruit Tosen Stardom.
The Japanese horse has been sent to Weir after Australian Bloodstock secured a 50 per cent share in him last week.
Tosen Stardom was in Sydney preparing for Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes but late last month was ruled out of the $4 million race because he bled from both nostrils after trackwork at Canterbury, incurring a three month ban.
Weir is looking forward to training the dual Japanese Group Three winner who raced twice in Sydney last autumn for a second in the Ranvet Stakes and fifth in the Queen Elizabeth.
“They are the sorts of horses you like to get,” Weir said.
He said the horse would have an easy time at Warrnambool in the coming weeks.
“Then we’ll start aiming towards spring,” he said.