Rey Magnerio to head West for the 2025 Winterbottom Stakes

Cranbourne trainer Robbie Griffiths is set to send Rey Magnerio interstate, believing the gelding’s next run is best placed away from his home environment.

While a second attempt at the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m) loomed as the obvious choice, Griffiths instead confirmed a Group 1 path, locking in the Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot.

“He leaves Sunday (16th) to go to Sydney, and then he flies from Sydney to Perth, and he should be there late Monday night,” Griffiths said.

The gelding launched his campaign with a superb win in the Group 2 Caulfield Sprint, and followed up with a luckless third in the Listed Century Stakes on VRC Oaks Day—a race Griffiths is adamant he should have won.

“He should have won easily,” Griffiths lamented.

“He just got into awkward spots, and in a 1000 metre race, you can’t have anything go wrong.

“He’s ended up sort of zigzagging everywhere, which is a shame. But the horse’s performance was very, very good.”

The sprinter has yet to race beyond Victoria but has lined up in four Group 1 contests, including a strong third in the Oakleigh Plate.

“We actually think the bigger track suits him a bit better than Cranbourne,” Griffiths said.

“Cranbourne, you’ve got to be sort of in a key spot, and last year we thought, because he raced forward, it took away a little bit of his sort of finish.

“Plus, we were going to go (to Perth) last year but we ended up electing for The Meteorite, so this year we thought we’d give it a crack.”

Griffiths also chose to avoid the Group 1 Champions Sprint to ensure Rey Magnerio would peak after travelling.

“We kept him at the 1,000 (metres) so he didn’t have too many hard runs; he had a pretty solid run at Caulfield first up,” Griffiths said.

“So we thought the 1,000 would be a lot easier than trying to take on the Champions Sprint.

“That way it gives him an extra couple of days to recover, knowing that he’s got to travel for the first time, so we thought that was a better lead in to the Winterbottom.”

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