David Payne has blamed trainer error for the poor performance of Bold Circle in the Listed The Rosebud (1200m) last weekend and he is confident that the promising colt can return to form in the 2014 San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
David Payne is hoping that Bold Circle can return to winning form in the San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill Gardens tomorrow. Photo by: Steve Hart
Bold Circle stamped himself as a horse to watch with two impressive performances as a two-year-old, with the son of Bernardini finishing third in the Listed New South Wales Thoroughbred Breeders’ Plate (1000m) before beating Unencumbered in the Men Of League Plate (1100m), but he failed to fire a shot when he finished at the tail of the field in The Rosebud at Royal Randwick last Saturday.
Payne told RSN this morning that the application of blinkers was the reason for Bold Circle’s poor performances in The Rosebud and he encouraged punters to be a pencil through the run when doing the form for the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1200m) tomorrow.
“I don’t think that it was the horses fault, you can blame the trainer,” Payne said.
“I put blinkers on him and he overraced, so you can just put a pencil through that run, he wasn’t competitive.
“He looks around a little and I listened to the riders and the jockeys who said put blinkers on.
“Saturday he just bolted with the jockey, who couldn’t control him.”
There are plenty of talented horses set to contest the 2014 San Domenico Stakes on Saturday, but Payne remains confident that Bold Circle can breakthrough for a maiden black type victory in the Group 3 event.
The likes of Bugatty, Sheer Style and Wandjina are sure to make sure that the San Domenico Stakes will be run at a steady tempo and Payne said that he will be happy for jockey Jeff Lloyd to let the three-year-old settle in the early stages of the race before having the last crack at them.
“He has had a few issues, but he has a lot of ability and I think that you will see a different horse tomorrow,” Payne said.
“I think that he can win and he definitely has the ability.
“He will sit midfield and he will be running on strongly.”
Bold Circle is currently available at 2014 San Domenico Stakes odds of $21; with Nostradamus ($3.80) currently a narrow favourite from Washington Heights ($4.20) and Ygritte ($5).
