Last start winner Haussmann is looking doubtful to run in the Listed $100,000 Sydney Markets Limited Winter Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday because of the wet track conditions.
Haussmann, above in blue beating Two Blue in the Civic Stakes, is a doubtful runner in the Winter Stakes on a wet Rosehill track. Steve Hart.
Even though Haussmann won on a heavy 8 track when he took out the Listed $100,000 Civic Stakes (1350m) at Rosehill on July 4, trainer John O’Shea is not convinced that the five year old is at his best on a rain affected surface.
“He’s probably doubtful. I know he won on the heavy the other day but I thought it was a very conservative track rating,” O’Shea told AAP.
“When (Godolphin racing manager) Darren (Beadman) walked the track he thought the ground on the rail was just slow, that’s why we rode him like we did.
“I don’t think Haussmann is overly effective on really heavy ground.”
The Rosehill track was rated a heavy 8 on Thursday morning and with more rain on the horizon Australian Turf Club racecourse manager Lindsay Murphy is expecting a downgrade by Saturday.
“The way the forecast is, we could be looking at a (heavy) 10 more than anything else,” Murphy said.
Haussmann was having his third run back from a spell when he beat Two Blue in the Civic Stakes and another win on Saturday would have boosted jockey James McDonald’s chances of winning back to back Sydney jockey premierships.
McDonald is currently sharing the top spot on the leader board with Blake Shinn on eighty-eight and a half wins with Hugh Bowman breathing down their necks with eighty-seven wins for the 2014 – 2015 season.
The Kristen Buchanan trained Two Blue is the current $4.20 favourite with Ladbrokes.com.au to bounce back into the winner’s circle in the Winter Stakes just ahead of Blake Shinn’s mount You’ll Never at $4.60 while Haussmann is on the next line of betting at $6.
Bowman’s will be riding the Joe Pride trained See The World, a $9 chance, who made up some ground in the wet in the Civic Stakes to finish third behind Haussmann and Two Blue.
