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Lindsay Park-trained gelding finished second in Blamey Stakes

The Lindsay Park-trained Fifty Stars (Sea The Stars) will attempt to retain his Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) title at Flemington on Saturday and he looked bang on track for the Group 1 when he finished second behind Star Of The Seas (Ocean Park) in the Blamey Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) at Flemington last Saturday. 

Co-trainer Ben Hayes said while disappointed the entire was unable to win, the performance showed he had bounced back from his first-up run when seventh to Colette (Hallowed Crown) in the Apollo Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Randwick on February 13. 

"I actually think it was a better run than last year," Hayes said. 

"He had to put up a big, searching run. He was very genuine as he was under pressure a long way out. 

"It's funny, he's like that in training. He's very lazy and can be hard to get a line on. 

"Johnny [Allen] had to give him a whack at the 600 (metres), which woke him up, and he was fantastic to the line. 

"He's backed up before and we're very confident that he's on track again."