Adrian Bott has confirmed boom colt Storm Boy will make his seasonal return in the San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill as he gears up towards his major spring assignments.
The Tulloch Lodge three-year-old is among eight acceptors for Saturday’s sprint, along with stablemate Mayfair and brilliant first-up winner Gatsby’s for Chris Waller.
Bott expects the robust colt, who started a Golden Slipper favourite, to improve with race fitness and as he is stretched out in journey, but he is also keen to see a competitive return.
“He is starting to take shape nicely and he has matured up as you would have hoped into his three-year-old season,” Bott told Sydney’s Sky Racing radio on Wednesday.
“We saw great improvement from his first trial to his second and there is further improvement off the back of that trial.
“I do think he’s going to be better placed and better suited the deeper we can get into the campaign, no doubt.
“But it’s important he has some racing in order to for him to get to those targets and be at his peak and at his best.”
Storm Boy will carry 57.5kg under the set weights plus penalties conditions of the San Domenico Stakes (1100m), conceding at least 1.5kg to his rivals, and will be partnered by Adam Hyeronimus.
Tim Clark rides stablemate Mayfair, who is coming off two late-season runs as a juvenile during the winter, including a Rosehill victory in July.
He will sport blinkers for the first time at Rosehill after wearing them in a recent trial win.
“He made nice progression at two and I always felt he was going to be better at three for us,” Bott said.
“He looked particularly sharp in his trial, he had the blinkers on which he gets on Saturday. He didn’t have that in first campaign, but it may help him coming back to the 1100 metres.
“He’s retaining a bit of residual fitness as well off that campaign. He looks in great shape.”
Anode and Shangri La Express were both nominated for the San Domencio, but Bott opted not to accept with either, Anode requiring more time before his race return while Shangri La Express instead heads to the Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) on Saturday’s program.
The latter finished fifth in the Rosebud first-up when giving weight to his opponents and again faces a tough task with 59.5kg, five kilos more than his nearest weighted rival.
“He was giving the field quite a bit of weight (last start), which unfortunately he is going to be forced to do again under these conditions,” Bott said.
“But we moreso want to see him getting out in trip to set him up for the races we’ve got in mind later in the campaign.”
Undefeated barn mate Wanaruah also lines up for Tulloch Lodge in the Up And Coming Stakes.
