3 minute read
A setback is unlikely to alter spring carnival plans for promising sprinter Kibou.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott remain focused on a Golden Eagle campaign with Kibou despite his scratching from Rosehill due to a respiratory infection.
The three-year-old was set to be the star attraction at Saturday's mid-winter meeting but was withdrawn on race morning due to what Bott described as "respiratory inflammation".
He is now likely to be sent for a break and the team will regroup to program his spring races, although the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) will remain the focal point.
"We may just pull up this prep, give him a little spell and have the complete run-in for the spring," Bott said.
"It may mean we move where we kick him off first-up next preparation.
"But that's (Golden Eagle) where we'd love to get him."
Kibou has raced just six times for three wins and claimed the scalp of Golden Mile when triumphant the Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) last August.
He was considered a genuine contender for the Golden Rose but was ruled out of that race after suffering a setback.
Keen to get some race fitness under his belt, Bott and Waterhouse brought him back for a late-season campaign and Kibou beat all but Iowna Merc first-up at Randwick last start.
While the team would have liked to give the gelding another seasoning run, Bott said it might just mean he kicks off his spring campaign at a lesser level than originally intended.
"We will probably have to start in the lower grades but that may be a positive for him," he said.
"The main thing is when he's starting his next campaign it's off a nice, conditioned preparation.
"We've got the positive out of it, we just weren't able to get the result (on Saturday)."
While Kibou was missing from Rosehill, Waterhouse and Bott still had plenty to smile about on Saturday with Resonator landing back-to-back wins in the Racing For Good On July 29 Handicap (1500m) and Zoumon taking out the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) at the Sunshine Coast.
