Doncaster Mile winner Stefi Magnetica is still a couple of weeks away from returning to the races, but new stablemate Pericles is ready to get his spring campaign rolling in the Group 2 Tramway Stakes.
Trainer Bjorn Baker, who took over Pericles this season after Godolphin’s move to a public training model, said the four-time Group 1 placegetter is the most accomplished racehorse to join his yard. “I’m very lucky to get a horse like him. He is the best credentialled horse I have received as a readymade racehorse and it’s exciting from that point of view,” Baker said.
Pericles, winner of the Tramway Stakes in 2023, has not raced since finishing fifth behind Stefi Magnetica in the Doncaster earlier this year. The two gallopers were paired in a 1000m exhibition gallop at Randwick on Wednesday, with Pericles leading under Josh Parr and holding off the mare by a length. Baker was pleased with the effort of both runners.
Stefi Magnetica is scheduled to resume in the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on September 13 before targeting the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m). Baker has also hinted she could back up into the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) a week later, just as she successfully handled a similar program last spring when placing in both the Golden Eagle (1500m) and Cantala Stakes (1600m).
“Who knows? We will nominate and she has backed up well before from the Golden Eagle to the mile so it’s not out of the question,” Baker said.
Punters looking to follow Stefi Magnetica and Pericles through their spring campaigns in the Tramway Stakes, Theo Marks Stakes, or Cox Plate can compare odds at Australia’s leading betting sites.