Glyn Schofield has been released from the Warwick Stakes ride on Boban to partner wet-track specialist Tiger Tees in the weight-for-age race.
Trainer Chris Waller confirmed Boban was a likely defection due to the probability of a rain-affected Randwick track and agreed to release Schofield from the mount close to declaration time on Wednesday.
“The Waller stable was doubtful about running Boban but they’re now going to declare Jeff Lloyd as the rider and with respect to the weather, wait and see if the track dries out,” steward Marc Van Gestel said.
“Given the circumstances we were happy to accede.”
Schofield has ridden Boban in six of the gelding’s nine wins, including Group One victories in the Epsom Handicap, Emirates Stakes and Chipping Norton Stakes.
Often a difficult horse to ride, Boban has appreciated Schofield’s knack for getting him to relax in his races.
A back-up plan for Boban is the Memsie Stakes in Melbourne.
Even if Boban does not run on Saturday, Waller will have a strong Warwick Stakes hand with five runners, headed by his Doncaster Mile quinella of Sacred Falls and Royal Descent.
Schofield will be riding Tiger Tees for the first time after trainer Joe Pride deliberately delayed booking a jockey for the last-start Flemington winner in the hope the field would fall away at acceptance time.
“I was hoping some of the horses wouldn’t accept and I would end up getting a very good rider,” Pride said.
The Warwick Stakes is a traditional spring launching pad for Sydney’s best middle-distance horses and stayers and that is again the case on Saturday.
Australian Derby winner Criterion will kick off his campaign while the race also features Epsom Handicap-bound pair Messene and Weary.
Tiger Tees fits a different profile, one more akin to that of stablemate Rain Affair who was third in the race 12 months ago.
Pride sees the Group Two as an opportunity for sprinters to use their speed edge to claim some early-season scalps.
“If you’ve got that good sprinting type there, they’ve got a natural advantage over the other horses,” Pride said.
The Warwick Stakes is one of five feature races at Randwick on Saturday.
