Co-trainer Troy Corstens is confident that his 2yo colt Stonefield has shown enough to be competitive in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Accession, above, was the winner of the 2018 Inglis Nursery at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Victorian trained Stonefield sealed his trip to Sydney with an impressive barrier trial win at Albury last Saturday and the Leon and Troy Corstens trained colt is one of a number of first starters among the eighteen nominations for the Inglis Nursery.
“We saw the Inglis Nursey, which is a half-million race this Saturday, and we thought it might be a nice race to target but we needed to trial him publicly,” Troy Corstens told racing,com.
“So, we took him to Albury on Saturday, and he beat one of Mitch Beer’s (Bel Hot) and one of David Hayes’ (Exceed Tycoon) and I think it was a decent trial.
“He handled that well and he’s come home and hasn’t missed a beat, so he’ll go to up to Sydney on Thursday evening and Hugh Bowman is booked to ride him Saturday.”
Corstens said that Stonefield has shown plenty of ability from day one and has kept on improving as time progressed.
“He’s been good the whole way along and he’s a beautiful-looking horse, a magnificent-looking horse but his trackwork has always been good, but always workmanlike,” Troy Corstens said.
“But as soon as we stepped the bar up, he stepped up with it and jumped straight over the top of it.
“He’s really come on in leaps and bounds and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
Trainer Chris Waller won the Inglis Nursery last year with Accession and has first starters September Run and Canadian Spice entered for this year’s running of the $500,000 race for the eligible 2yos for the Inglis Race Series.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Dubai Star has had one run for a second in the Listed $140,000 Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Sandown on November 16 and has been installed as the $4.40 favourite for the Inglis Nursery at Ladbrokes.com.au while Stonefield is marked at $21.
Early betting for the Inglis Nursery at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4.40 Dubai Star, $5 Encountabull, $5.50 Wild Ruler, $10 Proud Mia, $12 Already Blessed, September Run, $14 Spirituality, Sunborn, $21 Canadian Spice, Spicy Restaurant, Stonefield, $26 Hot Spring Gold, Neutron, $34 Charming Pat, Mission Way, Pump It Up, $41 Dismissal, $81 Atomic Feather.
