Mornington trainer John McArdle is already making plans for an early season Group 1 assault, with Queensland forming a crucial part of his preparations.
Regal Zeus is set to contest the Listed Eye Liner Stakes (1350m) at Ipswich on Saturday, which represents the first of two potential races in Queensland for the gelding.
The trainer’s objective is to return to Melbourne early in the new season to target the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield in late August.
“I’m 99 per cent sure we’ll run in the Eye Liner and then the Glasshouse and if everything went according to plan then we would be the fit horse leading into the Memsie,” McArdle advised. “That was the plan and the reason for heading up there was because it is a 61-kilo maximum topweight off a 54-kilo minimum, so he wouldn’t be getting as badly weighted up there as he would be in Victoria.”
The Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m), to be held at the Sunshine Coast on July 4, is the next potential engagement, with Regal Zeus allocated 60.5kg for his Ipswich start.
Regal Zeus heads into Saturday’s event having competed in just one trial, finishing second over 1200m at Sandown on May 23.
This trial was conducted over the new 1200m distance on the Hillside course at Sandown, a distance McArdle felt would provide the gelding with a substantial workout on a suitable grass track.
“He was probably ready for a half-mile trial, but he had the1200-metre trial, and him being him, he doesn’t do anything softly,” McArdle explained. “It was a stronger trial than what we expected, but what it meant was that we didn’t have to trial him again.”
Following a gallop on the course proper before the Mornington meeting last week, the horse was transported to Queensland the subsequent day.
“The travel has tightened him up again and he hasn’t left an oat since he’s been up there. He’s his bright usual self.”
The Eye Liner Stakes is part of a notable Saturday program at Ipswich, which also includes the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) and the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic (1200m).
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