Michael Freedman has not ruled out the possibility of campaigning Ninja over a mile again down the track, but the immediate priority is to focus on shorter distances and assess his prospects for a potential Everest berth.

The four-year-old gelding is slated to commence his campaign in a strong renewal of the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday. This will be his first outing since participating in the Randwick Guineas (1600m), where he finished in the midfield.

Freedman suggested that Ninja’s performance in the Randwick Guineas was likely influenced by the horse reaching the end of his preparation and the extended distance. He indicated that the horse would be kept to shorter races for the foreseeable future.

“I’m not ruling out one day trying him back over the mile, but his form to this point suggests he’s very effective at 1200 to 1400, so we might be smarter keeping him in and around those distances for the time being,” Freedman said.

“Like most trainers and owners with sprinting type horses, you’d love to see if he could measure up and get himself a spot in an Everest later in the spring. But there’s a hell of a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then.

“But that’s a race that would be in the back of my mind for him if he was going well enough. A Golden Eagle would be worth a look to given it’s restricted to four-year-olds.”

The winner of the Hobartville Stakes (1400m) in February, Ninja impressed observers with a stylish victory in a Randwick trial last month.

Freedman is pleased with the horse’s physical and mental improvement since the autumn, and the Missile Stakes will serve as a crucial test of his abilities against formidable rivals such as Group 1 performers Angel Capital and Napoleonic.

“He’s just more mature and a stronger four-year-old now,” Freedman stated.

“As a younger horse, he was somewhat mentally fragile. But he’s been gelded as a young horse and that trip away (to Queensland in the summer), like is does with a lot of horses, did him the world of good. He came back a lot more seasoned.

“His autumn ‘prep’ stopped reasonably early, and that enabled him to have a long spell and a long build-up. So while he’s up and about relatively early in the spring, he hasn’t sacrificed any time off to do that.

“Hopefully we get him off to the races on Saturday and see where we get to later in the spring.”

A field of eight has been confirmed for Sydney’s opening stakes race of the 2026-27 season. The lineup is headed by triple Group 1 placegetter Angel Capital, who finished sixth in last year’s Everest (1200m) behind Ka Ying Rising.

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