For months, Bendigo-based trainer Tim Fitzsimmons has been meticulously planning an assault on one of the final Stakes races scheduled for the Australian racing calendar this season.

The upcoming Listed Lightning Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville is one of three races across the nation that carries ‘Black Type’ prestige. It shares this distinction with the Listed H G Bolton Sprint (1200m) held at Belmont and the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.

Fitzsimmons is en route to Morphettville with Yuuki, a filly who has achieved two victories from nine career starts. She will compete in a set-weights race specifically for two and three-year-old participants.

Yuuki clinched her maiden win at Swan Hill three starts ago, subsequently adding another triumph at Seymour before her last outing. On June 7, at Swan Hill, she finished sixth behind the highly regarded Cruiserweight.

To ensure optimal readiness for Saturday’s event, Yuuki completed a 700m jump-out at Bendigo on July 14, emerging victorious.

“She’s going really well,” Fitzsimmons stated.

“She didn’t have much luck at her last start when she was four-wide with no cover at Swan Hill, but that has proven to be a pretty strong form race with Cruiserweight coming out and winning and her form was pretty hard to fault before that.

“She’s always run into a good one. Point Barrow, then Celtics and Cruiserweight and even the horse she beat in her maiden, Scoobartie, has come out and won two convincingly.

“She’s drawn wide, which is a pain, but we’re hoping for a bit more rain as she loves it with a bit of sting out.

“We’re chasing some ‘Black Type’ as the owner wants to breed with her eventually and this has been a long-range plan. We planned this race six months ago.

“Hopefully we can get a nice run from that gate, and it seems at Morphettville they do get away from the fence, so hopefully it’s not the worst place to be.”

The riding duties for Yuuki, along with Fitzsimmons’s stablemates Olatunde and Blazing Sword, have been entrusted to Queensland-based jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor.

Fitzsimmons explained his rationale for securing a dedicated rider for his trio, particularly for Yuuki in the day’s main race.

“We asked Michael Rodd who came to Albury for us earlier on, but he couldn’t make it,” Fitzsimmons shared.

“We used Kyle when I was in Singapore and he came up and rode Golden Monkey, so there’s that connection.

“I like the way he rides, he’s a patient rider, and he jumped at the opportunity, so it was good to lock someone in early and not have to worry about it.”

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