Caulfield draw makes it tricky for Mr Quickie
The rain came to ruin Mr Quickie’s hopes in The All-Star Mile and a poor barrier draw has dented his chances in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap at Caulfield.
Mr Quickie has drawn the extreme outside in the 16-horse field plus one emergency in Saturday’s race over 1400m, but trainer Phillip Stokes laughed it off saying there was nothing he could do about it.
“We’ll need to have a good look at the race, but the barrier makes it very hard and I suppose he’ll be going back and be running on,” Stokes said.
Stokes was confident of Mr Quickie’s chances leading into The All-Star Mile on March 13, but the rain that fell that day put an end to his hopes.
After a first-up third to Probabeel and Academy Queen in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, Mr Quickie finished 10th on the rain-affected track at The Valley.
“I think the horse was going to run a big race,” Stokes said.
“Jamie Kah was adamant that when he loomed, he was going to put himself right in it, but then when the pressure came on, he couldn’t go a yard.”
Unfortunately for connections of Mr Quickie, Kah, the runaway leader in the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership, has elected to ride last year’s Victoria Handicap winner Bam’s On Fire.
Ben Allen, who won three races on Mr Quickie earlier in his career, is reunited with the galloper on Saturday.
Stokes said Mr Quickie would bypass The Doncaster (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday week.
He said the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Mile at Caulfield on April 17 was the immediate preferred option.
“After that then we’ll probably look at heading up north and maybe running him in the (Group 1) Stradbroke,” Stokes said.