The Lindsay Park trio of Ben, Will and J D Hayes are eyeing another Victorian slot race victory, with stable favourite Here To Shock the horse they hope can deliver it.
Before that target, the gelding resumes in the Listed Testa Rossa Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday, a race the team views as the perfect lead-in to the $1 million The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham on December 13.
Here To Shock claimed the inaugural running of the Supernova last year, leading home a stable quinella, and Ben Hayes confirmed the race is firmly on their radar again.
Lindsay Park Racing owns a slot in The Supernova, ensuring the horse has a guaranteed pathway should he perform well this weekend.
The gelding hasn’t raced since his sixth in the Group 3 Moonga Stakes (1400m) last month but tuned up with an 800m jump-out at Flemington on November 21, finishing third.
“This should be a nice prep run,” Hayes said.
“We purposely freshened him to target this with the Supernova in mind, and then we might consider going over and trying to go back-to-back in the Group 1 over in New Zealand.
“It’s the kind of race he can be very competitive in.”
After winning the Supernova last year, Here To Shock freshened up before heading to New Zealand, where he claimed the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in February.
Lindsay Park has executed successful one-off raids in New Zealand before, including Long Leaf’s win in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic in 2017 and Conqueror’s runner-up finish to Probabeel the following year.
The stable will also send Torture, winner of the Listed Debutant Stakes, to contest the Karaka Million 2YO Classic in January.
Run Harry Run joins Here To Shock in Saturday’s Testa Rossa after winning the Ararat Bowl (1300m) first-up on November 9.
Hayes said the gelding had been freshened with a late-spring campaign in mind.
“But when we got the heavy track, we decided to be patient and he came out and won the Ararat Bowl, so it was good to get him back in the winner’s stall,” Hayes said.
“He actually has pretty good form behind Globe, and he’s been racing very consistently.
“It’s obviously a big step up in class to what he’s been running in, but he’ll run a nice competitive race again and he’s in great order.”
If you’re backing a runner in the Testa Rossa Stakes, compare markets across the top Australian betting sites.
