One time favourite Astern is officially out for the Group 1 $1m Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on October 8 with trainer John O’Shea not including him among the stable’s list of second acceptances.
Astern, above, is not among the second acceptances for the Caulfield Guineas at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.
O’Shea has five Godolphin owned three year olds among the forty-eight second acceptors for the Caulfield Guineas, Impending, Tessera, Archives, Drachenfels and Nemrud.
Astern was targeted towards the Caulfield Guineas and was due to have his final lead up run in the Group 3 $175,000 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield this Saturday after winning the Group 1 $1m De Bortoli Wines Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 10.
But the Medaglia D’Oro colt had to be treated for an elevated temperature over the weekend, forcing O’Shea to cancel his trip to Melbourne this weekend and thus aborting a Caulfield Guineas start.
But O’Shea is confident that Astern will make a complete recovery and a new Spring Carnival program will be mapped out.
“He’s made a good recovery but because he will miss the lead-up run on Saturday we had to reconsider running him in the Guineas,” O’Shea said.
“Nothing has been decided yet, but there are some good options for him which we will assess over the coming days.”
Two year old Group 1 winners Sacred Elixir and Prized Icon are among the second acceptances for the Caulfield Guineas.
The Tony Pike trained Kiwi gelding Sacred Elixir is due to have his first run back in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude this Saturday after winning the Group 1 $600,000 BMW J.J. Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm on June 11 while James Cummings’ Prized Icon collected his Group 1 trophy when he won the $500,000 Moet & Chandon Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on April 16.
Cummings has also accepted with the promising colt Good Standing.
Leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller has left seven three year olds in the Caulfield Guineas, including the only filly among the second acceptances Omei Sword.
Waller, who won the Caulfield Guineas last year with Press Statement, has also accepted with Nikitas, Cellarman, High Mist, Veladero, Earth and Octavian Augustus.
Team Snowden tasted success with Shooting To Win in 2014 and still have two in contention this year with Detective and Mediterranean.
The Hawkes Team also has a strong contingent with Divine Prophet, Swear and Inference while Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have two colts left in contention with Thronum and Evacuation.
The in-form Lindsay Park Team has five left in the Caulfield Guineas after the second acceptances, Valliano, Seaburge, Blue Tycoon, Dam Ready and Northern Lion.
The final field of the Caulfield Guineas will be released on Tuesday, 4th October, 2016.
