The Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable are banking on race experience proving significant when Blue Stratum heads to Caulfield for his return run.
Blue Stratum is the only colt of the 10 colts and geldings engaged in the Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) to have raced previously.
The two-year-old son of Blue Point had two runs in the spring, finishing second to Dublin Down in the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) at Flemington on November 7 ahead of a trip to Sydney for the Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Randwick on December 10.
Tony McEvoy said Blue Stratum cost himself a debut win at Flemington before suffering a case of the thumps in his fourth-place finish at Randwick.
“He was fabulous at Flemington but threw the race away just getting a bit lost down the straight,” McEvoy said.
“We took him to Sydney, and he bowled up to win the race over the rise and then he disappointed me.
“I couldn’t work out why he didn’t finish the race off, but he pulled up with the thumps.
“With the heat up there that day, he got out of sorts, so I’ve put a line through that.”
McEvoy explained the thumps have no long-term effect on a horse, describing the condition as akin to hiccups in humans.
“The thumps, they have them they’re gone,” McEvoy said.
“Their diaphragm and their lungs get out of sorts, and one goes against the other. The utilisation of oxygen is not there, so they get the hiccups.”
Blue Stratum was taken to the inner Heath track at Caulfield on January 16 for a jump-out, leading home his opposition over 800m.
McEvoy said that was what he wanted to see from the colt leading into Friday’s race.
“He’s exciting, an up-and-about two-year-old,” McEvoy said.
“His trial the other day was a fabulous trial for a 1000-metre race at Caulfield.
“He’s in good order.”
