Cox Plate placegetter Rekindled Interest has been scratched from the Doncaster Mile after Randwick was downgraded to a heavy 9 overnight.
Rekindled Interest is out of the Doncaster - photo (c) Taron Clarke
Randwick received another ninety-five millimetres of rain in the last twenty-four hours, taking the total for the week to one hundred and fifty millimetres and trainer Jim Conlan said that he wouldn’t be running Rekindled Interest on the heavy surface.
Conlan is adamant that Rekindled Interest should have won last year’s Group 1 $3m Tatts Cox Plate at Moonee Valley when an unlucky third to Pinker Pinker and will now hope the weather clears for next week’s Group 1 $500,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
“I’d like to run in the Doncaster, and I will if conditions suit, but I’m in a good position where I’ve got a good option a week later,” he said.
“Manighar and Americain will be tough but Rekindled Interest beat Southern Speed comfortably home in the Mackinnon Stakes when he was over the top and Southern Speed has been highly competitive with Manighar.”
Conlan is very happy with the four year old and said his work during the week was first class and is not frightened to take on Manighar and Americain.
“It was the equivalent of the work that he did on the Tuesday before the Cox Plate and that was winning work,” Conlan said.
Trainer Mick Kent is one who is hoping the rain continues for 2011 AJC Oaks winner Absolutely, saying the wetter the better.
Kent wasn’t going to run the four year old mare until the rain came and is hoping it doesn’t ease up.
Originally without a jockey, Kent snapped up Luke Nolen with the early scratching King’s Rose who is being kept for the Group 1 US$1.8m QE II Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin next week.
“Wetter the better for me. She wasn’t going to run but when the rain came we paid up the $15,000 acceptance fee and hoped the rain kept coming,” he said.
Absolutely showed her liking for the wet, scoring by three and a half lengths in The Oaks on a heavy 8 and is going into the Doncaster with two solid runs under her belt.
The Redoute’s Choice mare made up some ground when fifth first up to Niagara in the Group 2 $175,000 Hyland Race Colours Ajax Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on March 31 then was always well back when thirteenth to Fast Clip in the Group 3 $125,000 BMW Doncaster Mile Prelude (1600m) at Randwick last Saturday.
