Ben and J D Hayes have come to the realisation that sprinter Nicolini Vito is at his best when his races are spaced.
It will be 18 days between runs by the time Nicolini Vito lines up in the Tonks Plate (1200m) at Ballarat on Saturday.
The Lindsay Park trainers decided to sidestep the majority of the spring after Nicolini Vito raced a little flat in the early stages of his preparation.
Nicolini Vito was successful first-up at Flemington in July and the Hayes brothers had high hopes for the sprinter, but two sub-par runs resulted in the five-year-old heading for a freshen up.
The change in routine worked with Nicolini Vito coming out to run second in the Listed Village Stakes during the Caulfield Cup Carnival before a last start fourth to Vespertine in the Listed MSS Security Sprint (1200m) on Melbourne Cup Day.
That run showed Ben Hayes the idea of spacing Nicolini Vito’s runs was good practise for the stable.
“He’s been racing consistently,” Hayes said.
“He raced at the start of the spring and won well first-up then raced a bit flat, so we freshened him through the middle part and only came back late in the spring.
“He’s well and healthy and working well at home.
“He’s back in class here from stakes class but has an awkward barrier, but he’s in really good order.
“The key with him is to keep him balanced and in a rhythm. He’s a horse that has over-raced on occasions, but if we keep him to 1200 metres, he should get into a rhythm and finish off strong.”
Damien Oliver has the ride on Saturday with Craig Williams, who has ridden Nicolini Vito at his past two outings, Singapore bound for their Gold Cup meeting on Saturday.
Hayes said the plan with Nicolini Vito was to keep him in work over the summer months and contest the summer-autumn sprints, with the Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on January 14 a potential target.
“I think we’ll keep him ticking over, keep him happy,” Hayes said.
“He’s a horse that thrives off gaps between runs. If you race him quite quickly, he can lose condition.”
