Get The Nod had his 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign prematurely ended, but trainer Lloyd Kennewell remains confident that the talented gelding is capable of performing at the highest level of racing and plans to set him for both the Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m) in Adelaide and Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) in Brisbane during his autumn campaign.
Get The Nod will be set for the $2 million Stradbroke Handicap during the 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Get The Nod stamped himself as horse to watch when he recorded an impressive win in the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on August 16, but he failed to fire in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on September 13 and was sent to the spelling paddock after being scratched from the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield on September 28.
Kennewell told Racing Ahead this morning that he was disappointing that Get The Nod was unable to have more race starts during the spring, but he was happy to look out for the best long-term interests of the horse and hopes that the US Ranger gelding will be an even better horse in the autumn.
“He is in the paddock still,” Kennewell said.
“He will be back in the next few weeks and he has had a really good break actually.
“He just had a few niggles and after Flemington we aborted the rest of the campaign after he got beaten because he is too good to mess around with.”
The Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) was the major spring goal for Get The Nod, but Kennewell plans to keep the three-year-old to a sprinting preparation during his autumn campaign.
The in-form trainer said that The Goodwood would be the Adelaide goal for Get The Nod before he makes the trip to Queensland for a tilt at the Stradbroke Handicap, which is now worth a whopping $2 million in prizemoney.
“He will get ready for the Adelaide Carnival and then progress to Brisbane I would think,” Kennewell said.
“Obviously the Brisbane winter with a few soft tracks will really suit him.
“I would be hoping that he could be a Goodwood type horse in Adelaide and I would like to think that he could be a Stradbroke type horse as a three-year-old on the minimum weight next year.
“That is the goals that he will be set and he just has to measure up along the way.”
Kennewell is chasing his first Group 1 victory after he took out the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) with Rialya in 2012.
