Megablast on trial at Moonee Valley for spring carnival start
NEW Zealand-based trainer Nigel Tiley will decide whether Megablast returns to Melbourne for the spring carnival after it runs at Moonee Valley in the Silver Thomas Hanley Plate this Saturday.
The five-year-old son of Shinko King is currently a $7 chance at Sportsbet.com.au for the 2040m race and a good result could see it returning later this year.
Tiley wants to see how the last start winner will cope with travelling and the early signs are positive.
“It’s a learning curve and we’re here to see how he copes with the travel,” Tiley said. “To this point he has coped very well, he’s travelled nicely and he enjoyed a working gallop with one of Trent Busuttin’s horses this morning at Cranbourne.
“We want to see where he sits over here and if he happened to be dominant then we would be looking at bringing him back over in the spring.”
Megablast won by nine lengths at Ellerslie last start on a heavy track and its preparation prior included placings in the Group 2 Avondale Cup and the Group 3 Waikato Cup. It also finished fourth in the Auckland Cup and the Counties Cup, which have been good form guides this season.
The biggest worry is the drying track at Moonee Valley, but Tiley said it deserves its chance to shine after its dominant last start victory.
“How he raced at Ellerslie was going to decide where we were going to go with him, whether we were going to stay in New Zealand and aim him at a couple of those winter handicaps or, if he looked impressive, we’d put him on the plane,” Tiley said.
“He couldn’t have been more impressive so here we are.
“He’s as well as I can get him so I would definitely like to think he’s going to acquit himself well and then we’ll back him up at Flemington on Saturday week.”
Another quality Kiwi seeking Melbourne riches could be Volpe Veloce which is in the early stages of a new preparation.
The classy daughter of Foxwedge has won seven of its eight starts and although no plan has been set, it could head to Melbourne later this year.
“She had two months off and she’s really strengthened,” trainer Graham Richardson said. “She did two weeks of pre-training and she’s been back with us for a couple of weeks.
“She might go to the Foxbridge Plate and then we may look at Melbourne. There are any number of fillies and mares’ races there.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet though and there’s Hawke’s Bay to think about as well.”