The Richard and Will Freedman stable has decided to split their two runners they had accepted with in a Stakes race at Sandown.
Coastwatch and Elettrica were both acceptors for the Listed John Dillon Stakes (1400m) on Saturday, but the father-and-son training duo will rely solely on Coastwatch.
Elettrica instead heads to the Listed Sunshine Coast Cup (1400m) with Will Freedman saying the Sunshine Coast race was potentially a slightly easier target for the mare.
“She’s in with 54-½ kilos up there and the other part is if it’s not clearly easier in Melbourne obviously our horses are used to galloping in the Sydney direction,” Freedman said.
“And she’s never been to Melbourne, so she would be a risk.
“For her, it was only if that race came up particularly weak and even though it’s a small field it probably still has a fair bit of quality through it.”
The John Dillon Stakes is down to seven runners following Elettrica’s scratching, and it could possibly have been six had the Listed Carrington Stakes (1400m) not been scrapped from Saturday’s Randwick program.
The Freedmans had originally intended to start Coastwatch in that race, and it was only a last-minute decision to throw a nomination in for the Sandown race.
“He had missed out on a run up here previously and I thought I can’t have the same mistake twice,” Freedman said.
“There were low nominations, but I’m not afraid of taking him to Melbourne even though he came down to Melbourne in the spring and probably didn’t fire.
“I think he probably had some genuine excuses. He ran well first time down there, albeit a luckless run at Caulfield, and then I thought he just didn’t handle the one week back up the following week.
“It was a little bit of pilot error. I’m throwing myself under the bus a bit there, but you live and learn with these horses.
“I expect him to run very well as he’s got a good barrier and hopefully, he gets luck in running.”
Coastwatch was successful over 1200m at Caulfield as a three-year-old in Group 2 company when prepared by Chris Waller, and Freedman said the 1400m of Saturday’s race seems the gelding’s pet distance.
Post Saturday’s outing, no plans have been made for Coastwatch, but longer term the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm could be on the agenda.
“He’s very much a handicap horse at the moment as his rating isn’t exceptionally high and he gets a low weight in some nice races,” Freedman said.
“If you were having some real blue sky for a Sydney trainer, we’re probably looking at the Stradbroke if he was able to win, but he’d need to win.”
Damian Lane has the ride on Saturday.
