Three-year-old Gone Bye is likely to remain in Sydney to run on the Kensington track at Randwick in preference to the MTC Guineas at Wagga.
Sydney trainer Mark Newnham has accepted for the gelding in Friday’s $72,000 race at Wagga, in which he has 62kg, as well as Saturday’s Kensington track meeting in an 1800m benchmark-78 for three and four-year-olds.
“I’m 90 per cent sure he’ll be going to Randwick,” Newnham said.
“He’s just too badly weighted at Wagga.”
Gone Bye has won three of his six starts but failed in the Group Three Frank Packer Plate at Randwick at his most recent start when weakening to finish 11th.
“It turned out to be too much of a rush to get him to the 2000 metres,” Newnham said.
“He went from a 1400-metre race in the Canberra Guineas first-up to having a month between runs into a 1600-metre race and then 10 days into the 2000-metres.
“I think it just came a bit quick for him.
“It was the original plan to head that way but he missed a couple of races between the Canberra race and when he won at Warwick Farm because they called the races off twice, so it put us in an awkward position with him.
“He was one run short going into it.”
Newnham is happy with Gone Bye and would not be surprised to see him run a lot better than last start, having won on the course at the end of his previous campaign.
“He is a winner over 1800 metres on the Kensington track already, he’s got a nice light weight and he’s drawn well,” he said.
“He’s meeting older horses but his two metropolitan wins have been against older horses and he gets enough weight relief.”
Newnham will monitor the weather and track condition, currently a soft (7), before deciding whether favourite Greysful Glamour goes to Friday’s Listed Wagga Wagga Gold Cup.
If the track is heavy or even what Newnham feels is too rain-affected for the mare to be effective she will be saved for the Gosford Gold Cup at Randwick on Saturday week.
