The decision by Lindsay Park trainers Ben, Will and J D Hayes to geld Arkansaw Kid has already paid a dividend, with more expected.
Up for grabs for Arkansaw Kid is the potential to race for $30 million in two upcoming Sydney races, but first there is the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday.
The $20 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick on October 19 followed by the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill two weeks later are potentially on the agenda for Arkansaw Kid, although Ben Hayes said more realistically the Group 3 Sydney Stakes (1200m) on Everest Day was a more likely scenario.
Since being gelded at the completion of his three-year-old season, Arkansaw Kid has two wins and a second in three starts.
“He’s won a Stakes race and a Group 2 since being gelded, and has run second in a Stakes race, so I think the gelding has made him concentrate,” Ben Hayes said.
“He’s a racehorse now, one that is not copping a bump and having a little sook, and he could be racing for big money in his next three or four starts which is exciting.
“It’s so worth it to geld horses with the prize money on offer in Australia.”
Hayes said while Arkansaw Kid had shown he is more of a sprinter, the stable believes the now four-year-old can stretch out in trip.
Arkansaw Kid was placed in the both the Group 3 Blue Sapphire Stakes (1400m) and the Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1600m) last spring after running fourth in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington.
“The sprinting stocks are very even, and I’d say he’s up there, but he needs to convince people,” Hayes said.
“We’ll keep him sprinting for now, but we wouldn’t mind trying him out in trip.
“As a younger horse he ran second in a Sandown Guineas. He hasn’t won at that trip, but he’s performed well and he’s a much more mature horse now.
“He could have a long career ahead as a gelding and, in the next month he could be running for $30 million whereas he might have only sold for $1.5 million or $2 million as a colt.”