Hi World will return to the races in the 2015 Memsie Stakes and trainer Peter Moody admits that he is not sure what to expect from the talented entire in the Group 1 event at Caulfield tomorrow.
Hi World will make his Group 1 debut in the 2015 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Hi World progressed impressively during his three-year-old campaign and he stamped himself as a horse to watch when he led from start to finish in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on April 6 before he was sent to the spelling paddock after he took out the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Royal Randwick on April 18.
Moody told Racing Ahead that he is very happy with the physical condition of Hi World, but he is unsure where the four-year-old sits at this stage of his racing career and he revealed that the 2015 Memsie Stakes could decide whether the son of High Chaparral heads on a weight-for-age path to the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) or contests races like the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) and Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m).
“It is pretty much a learning curve for us and the horse tomorrow and we will find out where he sits in the food chain, is he going to be a weight-for-age horse or is he going to be a handicapper,” Moody said.
“I think worst case scenario he is going to be a good handicapper and he will go around in an Epsom or a Toorak, but can he develop into a Cox Plate horse?
“We will learn that tomorrow.
“He is going to get a lovely run just behind the speed and hopefully he gets a fair crack at them in the straight, so that we can learn.
“We are very pleased with the horse, he has shown us that he is a nice horse and we are going to learn more tomorrow.”
Moody won the 2014 edition of the Memsie Stakes with Dissident, who was named Victorian Horse Of The Year last Sunday, but he does not believe that there are a great deal of similarities between Dissident and Hi World.
The leading trainer said that Dissident was a seasoned campaigner heading into the Memsie Stakes after racing at the highest level as both a two-year-old and a three-year-old, while Hi World will make his Group 1 debut in the 2015 Memsie Stakes.
“Dissident was better performed and he was already a Group 1 winner going into this race,” Moody said.
“He was much more mature individual as a three-year-old than Hi World and much more seasoned.
“This horse really progressed well last campaign and really kept jumping the bar every time that we put it in front of him.
“He has done the majority of his prep up in Sydney and trialed there, which is the same as Dissident, but that wasn’t be design.”
Hi World is currently available at 2015 Memsie Stakes odds of $9 and is on the third line of betting behind Boban ($4.80) and Volkstok’n’barrell ($8).
