Trainer Henry Dwyer has revealed that the 2015 Orr Stakes at Caulfield on February 14 could be an option for undefeated colt Lucky Liberty.
Lucky Liberty could make his debut at Group 1 level in the 2015 Orr Stakes. Photo by: Adrienne Bicknell
Lucky Liberty started his racing career with impressive wins at both Sale and Mornington and he stamped himself as a genuine Australian Guineas hopeful with a tough win in the Flemington Rose Garden Handicap on Saturday (1420m) on Saturday.
The original plan for Lucky Liberty was to run in the Group 3 CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on February 21 before stepping up in trip for the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 7, but Dwyer told Racing Ahead this morning that he is considering giving the Statue Of Liberty gelding a shot at Group 1 level in what looks like being a relatively weak edition of the Group 1 Orr Stakes (1400m).
“I am giving minor consideration to going to the CF Orr in two weeks,” Dwyer said.
“Normally I wouldn’t with a horse that has only had three runs and is still learning, but to get to the mile he needs another run over 1400.
“The Guineas is five weeks away and he needs a stopgap in the middle there over 1400.
“The plan was the CS Hayes, which is three weeks from Saturday and there is also the Autumn Stakes, which is two weeks on the 14th and where a few of the Guineas contenders will go, but there is also the Orr.
“I am just looking through the Orr and I can’t work out what is going there.
“Moment Of Change has gone amiss, he probably would have gone there and been hard to beat, and I think Happy Trails is going there and the Australia Stakes last week was a fairly weak rendition.
“We will nominate and see what happens.
“A horse like Yell won it as a lightly-raced three-year-old and there is a good argument to go there, but an equally good argument not to go there.”
Lucky Liberty was caught wide throughout the Flemington Rose Garden Handicap on Saturday and was forced to do plenty of work in the early stages, but was still able to hold-off the fast-finishing Siegestor to record a maiden metropolitan win.
Dwyer said that Lucky Liberty had taken no harm from the tough run and was in a very jovial spirit when he was taken for a swim at the beach this morning.
“He ran up to everything that we expected of him and probably a little bit more,” Dwyer said.
“He is obviously a promising horse.
“I can’t fault him; he trotted up yesterday morning, he ate up on Saturday night and hasn’t been a beat since.
“We took him for a swim this morning and was just off his head to be honest.
“A loose horse ran past him at one stage and he just wanted to chase it and was all over the shop.
“I had to bring him back to the stables because he was too full of himself and that is a good sign.”
All Too Hard (2013) is the only three-year-old to have won the Orr Stakes in the last ten years, but six three-year-olds in a row won the race between 1998 and 2003.
