Tempesta in Que for G1 Australian Cup start

Que Tempesta’s spring campaign didn’t go as planned, but the Lindsay Park stable hopes the imported stayer can make an impact this autumn, beginning with the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Aiming for the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup last spring, the Irish-bred galloper showed promise early but failed to qualify for the big races. After a short spell, he’s back on track, with the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) later this month as a possible target.

Que Tempesta made a strong Australian debut when finishing fifth in the Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield before attempting to gain a Caulfield Cup berth in the Naturalism Stakes (2000m), where he finished sixth. His spring concluded with a disappointing run in the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2400m) in Sydney.

Trainer Ben Hayes believes the spell has benefited the horse, but he acknowledges that he may need this first-up run.

“We were trying to get him into one of the Cups, but it didn’t quite work out,” Hayes said.

“He’s probably going to take some improvement from this run, but we had to find a race that suited his rating.”

The team had planned an earlier return, but a minor setback pushed his campaign back.

“He’s had three jump-outs, but unfortunately, his last one was against just one other horse,” Hayes said.

“If he runs well on Saturday, we’ll consider the Australian Cup, but if not, we’ll look at the Easter Cup instead.”

Hayes is confident Que Tempesta has the talent to perform at this level but wants to see how he measures up first-up.

“At his best, he can be competitive, so hopefully, we see that on race day,” he said.