Cousins back in form with Caulfield double
After a lean autumn carnival in Melbourne, training cousins Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra have bounced back with a winning double at Caulfield.
Sword Of Light stepped up to 1600m to win the buyaracehorse.com.au Handicap before Crystal Dreamer scored in the 1000m Sandown Park (UK) Handicap on Saturday.
Both horses are set to return to Caulfield on April 22 chasing bigger prizes.
A winner of seven of his 14 starts, Crystal Dream will chase the Listed Bel Esprit Stakes (1100m) while Sword Of Light is to tackle the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Reef (1600m).
Ellerton said Crystal Dreamer was ideally placed over Saturday’s 1000m course.
“I think he’s restricted in what distance he can run,” Ellerton said.
“The 1000 metres is probably his pet trip but he was in well at the weights today and hopefully he will get in well in a stakes race here in a fortnight and we’ll see if he can run 1100 metres.”
Ellerton said Crystal Dreamer had benefited from a spell at owner David Moodie’s property after his last start failure at Moonee Valley in January.
“When he went up to David’s farm after his last run he looked pretty rung out,” Ellerton said.
“He put on a fair amount of weight up there and came back looking a different horse I thought.”
Sword Of Light backed-up from a second placing in the Bendigo Guineas last week and Ellerton said the plan was to give her Saturday’s outing to have her at peak fitness for the 1600m trip in a fortnight.