Quality three-year-old Super Photon will be the master of his own destiny in Melbourne with his length of stay to be determined by his performance on Saturday.
The stakes-winning son of Super Seth will run in the Silver Bowl Series Heat 1 (1400m) at Flemington with Jordan Childs booked for the ride.
“He’s going great and flew over this morning after he had galloped beautifully on Tuesday morning,” trainer Stephen Marsh said.
“He’s on an open ticket over there, whether that be one run or two.
“We’ll just see how he runs and pulls up, there are a few options for him if we decide to push on.”
Super Photon was unbeaten as a two-year-old, including success in the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1400m) and subsequently underwent a wind operation after an under-par spring preparation.
He has returned to win two of his last three starts with a most recent victory at the expense of the open sprint handicappers at Te Rapa.
“It looks a nice race for him on Saturday, obviously he has to carry 60kg, but he is back to three-year-old company and with the right run he’ll be a real chance,” Marsh said.
“He’s in very good form and only had the three runs this time in so it would have been a shame to put him out for a spell while he’s racing so well.”
On the home front, Marsh is confident on a form turnaround from last season’s champion two-year-old Velocious when she steps out in the Evergreen Bloodstock (1100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.
The Written Tycoon filly was untroubled to beat her open rivals when resuming over 1150m at Te Aroha at the end of March before a luckless unplaced run in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
“She won very well fresh-up and we’ve put a line through what happened at Te Rapa, I’m really happy with her,” Marsh said.
“With the right run, I think she’s the best of ours on Saturday.”
Ace High’s daughter Savina will take her chance in the Listed Skycity Champagne Stakes (1600m) with Marsh more hopeful than confident, viewing her as a filly for the future.
“The mile will suit her, but it is a throw at the stumps and she’ll go out for a good spell afterwards,” he said.
“She has the makings of a really nice horse for next season.”
Ellerslie will also mark the return of the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) winner Bourbon Empress in the Network Visuals Handicap (1400m).
She hasn’t raced since she was out of the money in the Listed Aotearoa Classic (1600m), after which she was found to be suffering from a respiratory complaint.
“We’ll give her a couple of runs, she’s such a big gross doing sort of horse that if we left her out for three months it would take her so long to come back up,” Marsh said.
“She’s on a limited campaign and then freshen up and be ready for the spring racing.”
Marsh will also be represented by Billy Lincoln and Sinhaman in the event, with the latter to come into his own as he gets up over more ground.
“Billy Lincoln will give a bit of cheek and while Bourbon Empress has improvement in her, she’s a very good mare and has obviously showed the most.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
