Trainer Grahame Begg is looking for more Group 1 glory for Written By during the 2019 Melbourne Autumn Carnival following the colts solid performance at the Caulfield jump outs today.
Written By, above, is being set for the 2019 Oakleight Plate at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Written By was the star two year old during the 2018 Melbourne Autumn Carnival with a commanding win in the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield and Begg is keen to head back to Caulfield this preparation to chase another Group 1 win.
Begg has selected the Group 1 $500,000 Ladbrokes Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on February 23 as Written By’s first major target and the Written Tycoon colt is set to kick off his program in the Listed $140,000 W.J. Adams Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on February 2.
Race day jockey Jordan Childs was in the saddle this morning in the 800m jump out at Caulfield and Begg was pleased with the way the colt went through his paces.
“He went very good,” Begg told racing.com.
“He was very sharp out of the gates and he strode along.”
“(Jordan Childs) just let him slide the last little bit over the final 300 metres because we’ve got baring (in mind) that he’s got to come back and run in 10 days’ time. His recovery was great.
“He (Jordan) felt that he was excellent in his action, much stronger than his last preparation and couldn’t be happier with how he is going.”
Begg said that Written By had retained plenty of residual fitness from his 2018 Spring Carnival campaign that included a win in the Group 3 $350,000 Catanach’s Jewellers Blue Sapphire Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield followed by a fourth to Sunlight in the Group 1 $1m Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on the first day of thee four day Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“Obviously it’s a quick turnaround from the Spring to the Autumn and if you’re going to run in the sprint series races you need to kick off pretty early,” Begg said.
“He didn’t get much of a chance to let down so he’s kept a bit of residual fitness, that’s one thing I’ve noticed, he’s going to come to hand quickly.
“I think the track (Caulfield) suits his style of racing – he’s a high-speed horse.
“He jumps so brilliantly from the gates, can use his speed and ping off the turn and that’s what he’s done each time he’s won there.”
Written By is sharing the second line of betting for the Oakleigh Plate with Pierata and Zousain at $7 and looks likely to clash with Darren Weir’s speedster Nature Strip who is the $5 favourite with Labdrokes.com.au.
Early betting for the 2019 Oakleigh Plate at Ladbrokes.com.au: $5 Nature Strip, $7 Pierata, Written By, Zousain, $8 Sunlight, $9 Eduardo, $10 Osborne Bulls, $13 Lean Mean Machine, $16 Enticing Star, Houtzen, $17 I Am Excited, Runson, Viddora, Voodoo Lad, $21 Brave Smash, In Her Time, Invincible Star, Petrelle, Spright, Zoustyle, $26 or better the rest.
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