Summer Passage to continue Kiwi age-group dominance in Sires’
THE Kiwi runners have dominated age group racing during the Sydney autumn carnival to date and Summer Passage will look to continue the roll in this Saturday’s $1 million Group 1 Inglis Sires’ at Randwick.
Trained by the Wexford Stables partnership of Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, Summer Passage has won its last two starts after finishing second on debut at Pukekohe.
The talented son of Snitzel scored a strong win in the Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie earlier this month and co-trainer Lance O’Sullivan is happy with how it has settled in Australia.
“So far so good,” O’Sullivan told horsebetting.com.au. “He had a bit of a long trip, but he seems OK and we’re happy.”
This will be the biggest test to date for the two-year-old which faces some talented local runners including Golden Slipper runners Menari and Chauffeur, but it is steady in the market at $12 with Australian bookmakers.
The barrier draw of 13 won’t help its chances, but O’Sullivan is counting on that there will be more early speed in the Inglis Sires’ as opposed to racing in New Zealand.
“We’ll just ride it as it goes. There will probably be a lot more speed in Australia,” O’Sullivan said.
“We think he’ll be in the first part of the field, but we won’t make a big call.”
O’Sullivan isn’t making an early decision about race tactics and will instead seek advice from internationally-renowned jockey Zac Purton.
“We won’t make a big call, we’ll discuss it with the jockey,” O’Sullivan said.
“He can race back – he raced back at the trials, so it doesn’t worry it.”
The $1 million juvenile feature has been the plan throughout its preparation, but O’Sullivan hasn’t ruled out any future Australian targets this season.
“This is our plan,” he said. “He’s run by the owners of course, but we thought this would be his grand final.”