D-Day looms for talented three-year-old Suncraze at Newcastle
THREE-year-old gelding Suncraze hasn’t won since scoring by five lengths on debut in August last year, but the flashing light has been shining brightly and D-Day has approached.
The Melanie O’Gorman-trained son of Henrythenavigator lines up in the TLE Newcastle Class 1 Handicap at Newcastle on Saturday and punters are expecting nothing short of a win from the $2 chance at Sportsbet.com.au.
Since winning at Dubbo, Suncraze has finishing second in four consecutive starts which included a high-quality placing behind subsequent winner Clipper in the Highway Handicap at Randwick, but O’Gorman chose to bypass the Highway at Rosehill due to the unsuitable distance.
“I’d love to stick to the Highway Handicaps, but that wasn’t the right distance for him,” O’Gorman told HorseBetting.com.au. “Last Saturday was 1000m, I think Rosehill is 1500m today and next week at Randwick is 1200m.
“He’s ready to go now so I thought I should go the Class 1 1200m at Newcastle as opposed to wait to 1200m next week at Randwick.”
Suncraze has been given a quick freshen up for this run and O’Gorman has bigger targets and longer distances in sight for the remainder of this campaign.
“I’m really happy with where he’s at today,” she said. “He was a little delicate after his run so that’s why I gave him three weeks between runs after the trip away.
“This week he’s done really well and I’m happy that he’s ready to go again.
“There’s a 1400m race at Warwick Farm for three-year-olds in three weeks time if I run today, so really this race is a nice stepping stone and hopefully a lead-up to the 1400m.”
O’Gorman turned down the chance to run Suncraze in the Country Championships this year – opting to keep the three-year-old at its own level, but will be targetting the riches if all goes well this season.
“People have asked me if I was considering racing in the Country Championship heats this year, but I didn’t think he was ready for it,” O’Gorman said. “I didn’t think he was mature and seasoned enough in his racing.
“I elected to not even try this year, but if we can get a win on the board this preparation I’ll give him a spell and bring him back and hopefully aim for the Country Championships next year.”
The track at Newcastle is expected to be in the slow-heavy range, which will suit Suncraze having won on a heavy track by five lengths and placing on a slow last start.
“Last night I checked and it was soft, it has been wet up there,” O’Gorman confirmed. “I was hoping it was heavy because he’s won on a heavy before, but by the end of the day we’ll see how it goes.
“It shouldn’t worry him either way.”
Suncraze often drops out the back in the early stages and produces a blistering turn-of-foot late. Saturday’s race doesn’t feature the likes of Clipper and punters are expecting it to finish over the top of them in style.
“That’s the horse, that’s his style of racing,” O’Gorman said. “I’ve never said to the jockeys you have to have him back there, that just seems to be the way he races and he likes to find his feet and get into his rhythm.
“I think he will be closer eventually as I get him up to 1400m and a mile, but he’s lightly raced and I haven’t had the chance to get into that distance yet.”
Punters should expect similar tactics to be used at Newcastle and the big track looks ideal for the odds-on runner with most bookmakers.
“I said to Grant (Buckley, jockey) ‘have the horse where it’s happy, you know his style of racing’, that’s why I picked a big track like Newcastle and hopefully today is his day,” O’Gorman added.