Tulloch Lodge co-trainer Adrian Bott believes Kibou is ready to show the strength as well as speed that will take him into group 1 targets later in the spring in Saturday’s Up And Coming Stakes at Randwick.
Although he is a winner of two races, Kibou gets in on the limit of 53kg in the group 3 handicap after being the beaten favourite in the Rosebud.
Regan Bayliss scores an all-the-way on Kibou at Rosehill in June.Credit:Getty
But the stable has always felt that the son of Maurice would come into his own when he steps up in trip where he will be to use his speed and stamina to his advantage.
“Being a Maurice, he will improve as he gets over more distance and also get better with age and maturity,” Bott said. “He has shown that he is above average from the official two-year-old trials, where he won easily, and it just took him a bit of time to work it all out, and he still isn’t quite there yet, even though he’s winning races.
“Having had that run in the Rosebud, where he was probably vulnerable at the 1100m, gives him the base to step up, and I think the 1300m should be ideal for him, as he has shown in the past.
“He showed good tactical speed the other day over the shorter trip, so I think he should be able to find the front over the 1300, even from the wide barrier, and he will be able to use his cruising speed rather than running all the way.”
Regan Bayliss has been with Kibou throughout his career and should be able to harness his power to keep something in hand to repel challengers as the gelding looks towards the Golden Rose and the Caulfield Guineas.
“We think he is going to get to the mile and that is where he might be at his best, but, with no weight on the weekend, it will take a good horse to beat him,” Bott said.
Bott will also saddle outsider Rise Of The Masses in the San Domenico Stakes to start his spring, which is being aimed to peak for the Golden Rose.
“It’s a nice kick-off for him and puts him on the right path toward those group 1 goals, where he will be better suited once they get to 1400m and a mile,” Bott said. “He is a real sprinter-miler that is going to be better over further than 1100m.”
Meanwhile, Stradbroke winner Alligator Blood will return to the race in Gerry Harvey colours in the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, which is more of a run he has to have than a race he can win.
Alligator Blood was only cleared to return to racing by Racing Victoria after the transfer of majority ownership from the controversial Allan Endresz to Harvey.
“The dramas have limited us with the lead-up options to Saturday,” Bott admitted. “We would have liked to do a little bit more with him going to the 1400m first-up, but he needs to run here to get on the right path for later in the spring.
“He is the Cox Plate and the Makybe Diva Satkes in a fortnight is a very important race to his spring and if he doesn’t start here we would be further behind schedule.”
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