Trainer Daniel Bowman is set to forget a bad 2020 Autumn Carnival performance from his stable star Begood Toya Mother and is looking forward to a return to his best form in the Spring.
Begood Toya Mother, above, will be aiming to win back to back Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Begood Toya Mother claimed his first Group 1 trophy with his win in the $500,000 Ladbrokes Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield during the 2019 Melbourne Spring Carnival and Bowman is hoping to have the rising six year old at his peak for this year’s edition of the Group 1 Handicap on September 19.
“His main target will be the Rupert Clarke again so he’ll probably kick off in the Regal Roller again but he’ll need the run,” Bowman told racing.com.
“Last year, he was coming in with residual fitness but this year he’s coming off a long spell.
Begood Toya Mother was sent to the spelling paddock following his last of seven in the Group 1 $500,000 Heineken 3 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on March 7 and Bowman said that he had recovered from his niggling injuries.
“He’s had a couple of gallops back after he had an injury in the autumn and he’s had a good break and has done about two months pre-training,” Bowman said.
“We had him doing a lot of dressage work to relax and work within himself a bit more and strengthen up his back-end where he had the injury and at the moment, it seems to have served him well.”
“He tore the muscle off his hip and we think it (injury) probably started in the Orr when he got corkscrewed.”
“It wasn’t that bad and we got it right but then he slipped out of the gates in Sydney and we just had to tip him out.
“It was just a complete write-off from the first run to the next two.”
Bowman has earmarked the Listed $140,000 Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on August 15 as Begood Toya Mother’s Spring Carnival pipe opener being heading to Adelaide for the Listed $100,000 Penny Edition (1400m) at Morphettville Parks on August 29.
“He’ll go Regal Roller then two weeks after that he’ll probably go to Adelaide for the Penny Edition (Stakes) and then three weeks into the Rupert Clarke.
“I’m sort of banking on that trip away will tuck him up a little more so it’s more like he’ll be fourth up in the Rupert Clarke and not third-up. Hopefully that trip away will make up that little ground we need to have him cherry ripe for the Rupert Clarke.”
Begood Toya Mother is the winner of eight of his sixteen starts and has earned just over $600,000 in prizemoney.
