G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes a long range plan for Hidden Motive
Hidden Motive left it late but held on for a nose victory in the first at Randwick on Saturday, continuing his steady rise and booking a spring spell ahead of an ambitious Group 1 campaign.
The $1.65 betting sites favourite was forced to dig deep under Ash Morgan to edge past outsider Kujenga ($81) in the Precise Air Handicap (1100m), while Matima ($3.80) wasn’t far away in third.
Morgan said the colt’s early duel with Dubbo Boy may have taken some sting out of him, but praised the effort to find the line under pressure.
“Probably that first ten or fifteen metres he was a little switched off, but I let him roll up, then that horse came to him and we just fired each other up a little bit,” Morgan said.
“It was a really good win. I know it was a very small margin but he was entitled to get beaten.”
Trainer Nathan Doyle was in Queensland for Churchill’s Choice in the Queensland Oaks, so ownership representative Sean Driver confirmed the Capitalist colt will head to the paddock with a spring goal in mind—the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington.
“He’s a four to five-lengths better horse than what we saw today,” Driver said.
“The big aim is the Coolmore. He will have two weeks off but as you can see he was fourth-up today and he’s still a big, burly looking colt so he will be on a strict diet.”
“Wait until you see him on top of the ground. At home, what he’s shown us, he is absolutely electric.”
Bought for $120,000 at Magic Millions after being passed in for $200,000, Hidden Motive had early setbacks, but Doyle has guided him smartly.
“He had moderate sesamoiditis but Nathan is such a good trainer and I was confident he would manage the colt,” Driver said.
“He over-raced, he got pestered in front and did a bit of work there. He will improve a lot.”
The day got even better for the Doyle-Morgan team as they followed up with a win from Hellfire Express in the Midway Handicap (1500m).
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