3 minute read
Trainer John Thompson isn’t sure where the limit is with quiet achiever Chat so he’s more than happy to have a ‘throw at the stumps’ in Saturday’s Group 2 $200,000 Heineken Missile Stakes (1200m) to find out.
Chat resumed with a dazzling win, clocking the meeting's fastest last 600m of 33.36 (Punter's Intelligence) as he mowed down All Time Legend, in the July Sprint (1100m) at Rosehill two weeks ago.
The five-year-old will need to transfer that performance to Randwick, where he's yet to place in three attempts on his home track, and carry an extra 5kg but Thompson said the conditions are ideal.
"It suits him being set weights and penalties whereas if it was weight for age we wouldn't be running,'' he said.
"It helps the progressive horse like him have a throw at the stumps. It's a Group 2, he's jumping a lot in grade. I've got to say the horse is going super and, if anything, I think he's improved from his first-up run.
"He's coming through the grades but he's always been placed pretty well and keeps raising the bar each preparation. I think he's definitely going to again this time in if he hasn't already.
"It's a small field and he's going to get a nice run from the draw."
Thompson is open minded about where to point Chat, $9.50 with TAB on Friday, through the early part of the spring and said a lot will depend on what his upper limit is distance wise.
His last two wins have been from well off the pace and while the gelding's second-up record isn't eye-catching it's worth noting last preparation he led second-up in the Silver Eagle and was beaten 1.9 lengths by Flit.
"We know he's a 1400m horse but whether we can go past that we don't know,'' he said.
"It always pulled him up because we were riding him on speed but now he's relaxing so well and hitting the line we possibly might stretch him out deeper into the prep.
"He's a big gross horse that improves with racing, and I don't think he's ever been going better, and I know Les (Bridge) has a high opinion of the horse he beat the other day."
Stablemate More Prophets is going back to the races slightly sooner than Thompson had initially planned but buoyed by a rap from jockey Hugh Bowman he elected to kick off in the Ray Selkrig Handicap (1200m).
She opened her late autumn prep with a fast-finishing third behind Lost And Running over 1200m at Randwick before a fifth in the Group 3 Dark Jewel at Scone but has only had the one 735m trial this time around.
"I had planned to trial her again but Hughie said just go straight to the races, she's ready to go, so we are and I think she's in good order,'' Thompson said.
"She's a cheeky chance, she'll go well fresh. I probably had one run too many last time in.
"We set her for the race at Scone and didn't have much luck there, we dropped in grade but she was over the top by then."
