Funshow ready for Saturday grade challenge

With the spring carnival on the horizon, trainer Nathan Doyle is eager to seize the moment by testing progressive gelding Funshow in Saturday metropolitan races.

The son of Cosmic Force, who has impressively won his last two outings by a combined 6-1/2 lengths, is slated for a Benchmark 72 race over 1500m at Rosehill, restricted to three and four-year-olds.

The race conditions are particularly fitting, as Saturday heralds the start of the new racing season, and Funshow officially becomes a four-year-old.

"He seems to be trending the right way," Doyle remarked. "There's nowhere to hide now, he's probably at that level. He's got to step up and go to that 72 grade, but he's in good order and 1500 metres I think he'll run out strongly."

Having secured successive victories at Newcastle over 1300m and Hawkesbury over 1400m, Doyle anticipates no issues with Funshow handling the 1500m, especially with $160,000 in prizemoney on offer.

"He's always shown us that he'd be a miler in time and he's slowly getting there," Doyle explained. "It's definitely the right time to try them. Obviously, it's carnival time very soon, so you probably try them while those 72s are on a Saturday for the good prize money."

Doyle may also have two other contenders at Rosehill on Saturday, led by the recent winner Silvanito, who is scheduled to compete in another Benchmark 78 over 1400m.

"He finally drew a gate third up and we were able to ride him a little closer," Doyle commented about the former Godolphin gelding. "It's the difference from being able to drag him back from bad gates and always hitting the line strongly but never getting the cash. He's rock hard, race fit so the four weeks between runs won't worry him."

The stable could also feature Formal, who is nominated for a Benchmark 78 sprint over 1100m at Rosehill and a race at Doomben, with a final decision on his racing program pending.

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