Trainer Sam Kavanagh has revealed that he is yet to decide where highly-rated import Tales Of Grimm will make his Australian racing debut this weekend.
Sam Kavanagh can’t wait to see Tales Of Grimm make his racing debut in Australia this weekend. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Kavanagh elected to include Tales Of Grimm in the acceptances for both the Hong Kong Racecourse Owners Association Trophy (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday and the Protest Pay Up Handicap (1400m) at Sandown and told Racing Ahead that both races are still options for the six-year-old.
The rising trainer believes that Tales Of Grimm is more likely to make a winning start to his Australian racing career if he makes the trip to Melbourne for the Protest Pay Up Handicap, but has bigger races in his mind later in the preparation for the Distorted Humor gelding and could opt to give him an easy first-up task over 1200 metres.
“We don’t have to leave until tomorrow night if he goes to Melbourne and we will just go through the form and have a chat with the owners,” Kavanagh said.
“A few of the owners are in Melbourne and a few are in Sydney, so they aren’t too concerned where he goes, but it will just be a matter of working out the race and how it is going to pan out and where we are going forward.
“The horse is in great order, his work on Tuesday was outstanding and I am really looking forward to kicking him off wherever he does.
“If he runs in Sydney he will be in a six furlong race and that may be too short, but sometimes you are better off kicking off these horses over a distance that is too short and they don’t have that far to run their first time even if they do get beaten.
“If he runs in seven in Melbourne he would be pretty hard to beat I thought, but it just depends on where we draw.
“We don’t want to go to Melbourne, do all the travel and draw wide or something like that.”
Tales Of Grimm has been included in the nominations for the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) that will be held at Flemington on March 14, but races like the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on the same day and the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Royal Randwick on April 4 are also potential options.
The six-year-old was a consistent performer in the United Kingdom since he made his racing debut in 2011 under the care of Sir Michael Stoute and he was purchased by Kavanagh at the Tattersalls July Sale for 75,000 Guineas last year after he finished a credible sixth in the Royal Hunt Cup during the 2014 Royal Ascot Meeting.
