McEvoy to mull over 2025 Run To The Rose test for Prestar

Promising colt Prestar delivered a strong performance at Randwick’s Kensington track on Wednesday to give Tony and Calvin McEvoy a new spring option, possibly keeping him in Sydney for black-type company.

At $3.40, Prestar outkicked the favourite Johnny to score by half a length in the Schweppes Handicap (1150m). It was his first start since July, when he placed at the Caloundra Cup meeting, and it may open the door to a tilt at higher-grade three-year-old contests.

Tony McEvoy said the Zoustar colt had always shown high promise and believed he had now earned another chance in stakes races.

“Really impressive young horse. A horse we’ve got a lot of time for,” McEvoy said.

“He is still working it all out and I thought he was fantastic today.

“I think he is a black-type horse. After his maiden I went straight to black-type and I asked him to do something that he couldn’t do. He just got it all wrong and he didn’t have the experience and you get exposed pretty quickly at Listed level.

“I’ll talk to (jockey) Ash (Morgan) to see where he thinks he’ll fit and whether we stay and run in another stakes race here like a Run To The Rose or whether we should be running a bit lower than that.”

Ash Morgan, who enjoyed his first Group 1 win earlier this year aboard Private Harry in the Galaxy (1100m), was once again full of praise for Prestar after Wednesday’s win.

“I loved him when I rode him at the ‘Sunny’ Coast and I was filthy I got beaten,” Morgan said.

“He crabbed a little around the turn (at Kensington) but when he balanced up he let rip. I was really surprised to see one near me because I feel like I really let go of him to put the race to bed.

“If he can hold that turn of foot over a longer trip he is a very good horse.”

Elsewhere on the program, Siriusly Hot ($16) broke through for Ciaron Maher in his first start as a gelding. Jockey Chad Schofield said the result was never in doubt after the horse quickened sharply at the top of the straight.

“The way he quickened at the top of the straight, that’s why I could pick anywhere to go because I had so much horse underneath me. He was a class above,” Schofield said.

Siriusly Hot raced five times as a two-year-old, his best effort being a placing behind eventual ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Vinrock.

For punters eager to follow Prestar’s progress into the spring, odds and markets for the Run To The Rose and other key races are available via top betting sites.