Trainer Adrian Bott has shaped Sir Delius’s autumn efforts towards one standout race, pitting him against two outstanding mares and a reliable foreign star, yet he believes the horse is perfectly timed to excel.
Bott lacks certainty on overcoming Autumn Glow, Aeliana or Dubai Honour, but expects Sir Delius’s top performance this campaign in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
“He has been building well. He’s right on track now and hopefully we’ll see him run a personal best this preparation,” Bott said.
“Some of his best performances in the spring still may not be enough with the form Autumn Glow is in, but in saying that, it’s different conditions to what they met at last time.
“I expect it to be a decent pressure race. I feel he’s at his best now this prep to perform well.
“This is the run and the race where we’ve tried to have him peaking.”
Winning the Underwood (1800m) followed by the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) back-to-back in spring, Sir Delius’s path to the Melbourne Cup was blocked by unsuccessful Racing Victoria vet clearances.
The connections ended the preparation early, and Bott indicated racing was essential for him to find form this season.
“We were able to go into the spring off the back of a Queensland campaign and had residual fitness early in that preparation,” he said.
“We’ve come off a longer break and it’s taken a bit of time to build into that. It was unsuitable at the mile first-up and he showed improvement second-up when we just gave ourselves a bit to do.”
From an awkward outside post in the Ranvet Stakes (2000m) second-up, Sir Delius raced rearward, but barrier three should allow a better spot Saturday per Bott.
Autumn Glow enters unbeaten as the one to fear, but her first try at 2000m in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes might be exploitable, Bott suggests.
“It’s new ground for her, if we’re trying to find anything to grasp onto,” Bott said.
“I have respect for her, not just her. Aeliana was very good last start. Lindermann even prior to that. It’s a proper weight-for-age 2000 metre race.”
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes often delivers boilsovers, like Intergaze’s victory over Octagonal in 1997 and Grand Armee’s triumph against Lonhro in 2004.
Visit racing betting markets for Queen Elizabeth Stakes options.
