Premiership winning jockey Jim Byrne is giving Wisdom Of Water plenty of thought before his mount Rothfire clashes with the Gold Coast speedster in the Group 1 $350,000 J J Atkins (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 6.
Jockey Jim Byrne, above, rides Rothfire in the 2020 J J Atkins at Eagle Farm. Photo by Daniel Costello.
Byrne will ride the favourite Rothfire in the Group 1 for the two year olds but has been impressed by Wisdom Of Water who galloped in between races at Eagle Farm last Saturday.
“I have been watching Wisdom Of Water quite intently,” Byrne told Radio TAB’s Past The Post.
“He looked nice on the track (on Saturday), he’s a nice horse, but I’ve also got a very nice horse.”
“In his first start, Rob Heathcote and I were worried about him.
“Wisdom Of Water capitulated that day and Rothfire went on and won.
“But I respect Wisdom Of Water. He’s a very smart horse, you only have to see the way he’s been winning.
The Robert Heathcote Rothfire has only been beaten once from six starts and returned from a break for an all the way win in the Group 2 $175,000 Moet & Chandon Champagne Classic (1200m) at Eagle Farm last Saturday.
Wisdom Of Water has also shown plenty of ability to date with three wins from five starts and co-trainer Toby Edmonds was more than pleased in the way that the Headwater colt stretched out on Saturday.
“He was just out for a look. We wanted him to have another feel of the track,” Edmonds said.
“You never know whether they remember what happened previously, but he seemed to enjoy it and he couldn’t have been more impressive. He worked quite effortlessly.”
The Toby and Trent Edmonds trained Wisdom Of Water was sent out as the odds on favourite when he debuted at Eagle Farm on November 2 but finished nine lengths behind Rothfire after jarring up on the hard surface.
Early betting for the J J Atkins at Ladbrokes.com.au has Rothfire as the $3.80 favourite ahead of the Tony Gollan trained Isotope at $4.80 while Wisdom Of Water is on the third line of betting at $5.50.
Betting for the J J Atkins at Ladbrokes.com.au: $3.80 Rothfire, $4.80 Isotope, $5.50 Wisdom Of Water, $9 Wild Ruler, $10 Macroura, $11 Overlord, $17 Not An Option, Saffiano, The Drinks Cart, $21 Thunder Mania, $26 Beyliks, Gotta Kiss, $31 Acrophobic, Superare, Tick Tock Boom, $34 Khoekhoe, Spokesman, $41 Anders, $51 or better the rest.
