Vandyke looking to claim a second Australian Guineas win

David Vandyke
Trainer David Vandyke has nominated debut winner Naughty Harry in the Australian Guineas.

The David Vandyke-trained Naughty Harry will be looking to stake his Group 1 claim in a 1600m Benchmark 65 at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

The three-year-old gelding began his racing career in fine style at Doomben on January 15, winning a 1350m Three-Year-Old Maiden Handicap by three-quarters of a length.

On that occasion, Naughty Harry defeated Drive A Deel and Fastnet Jack, who have both come out and won their next starts at the Sunshine Coast and Ipswich respectively.

The son of Tavistock was accepted to race at Ipswich during the week, but the meeting was abandoned due to thunderstorms in the area after the running of race one.

Naughty Harry was nominated by his trainer during the week for the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m), which will be contested at Flemington on March 5.

Vandyke tasted success in that race in 2020, when Alligator Blood led all of the way as a short-priced favourite, defeating Group 1 winner Superstorm.

Having been partnered by Kyle Wilson-Taylor on debut, Larry Cassidy will take over the reins aboard the unbeaten gelding on Sunday.

Naughty Harry is set to jump from barrier five in the eight-horse field, where he is expected to start a short-priced favourite.

The gelding is currently a $101 chance in the Australian Guineas, while fellow Queenslander, Maotai is a $51 chance in the same race.

Vandyke will saddle up just one other runner at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, as Maybe The Best makes her stable debut in race three.

Formerly with Anthony & Sam Freedman in Melbourne, the four-year-old mare comes to Queensland with a consistent record of two wins and four runner-up efforts from just the seven career starts.

The mare by I Am Invincible was set to start favourite on Wednesday at Ipswich, but she too had to wait for another day.

Ben Thompson will partner the mare from barrier one in a 1000m Benchmark 68.

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