In-form sprinter Monsieur Gustave can extend his winning run to four with success in the Group 3 $200,000 George Moore Stakes (1200m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Calanda, above, is the favourite for the George Moore Stakes at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
Monsieur Gustave was in fine form at the end of the 2017 Queensland Winter Carnival with wins in the Listed $175,000 City Of Ipswich Eye Liner Stakes (1350m) at Ipswich and in the Listed $175,000 HMR Projects Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast.
The Darryl Hansen trained five year old then resumed from a break for a first up win in the re-scheduled Listed $100,000 Keith Noud Quality (1200m) at Ipswich on November 22.
Monsieur Gustave goes up 1kg to 58kg for his Keith Noud Quality win but Hansen doesn’t see that as a problem.
“He has carried big weights in other races and he is a very good horse,” Hansen told AAP.
“It is a tough race but we are after the big bonus for winning all three summer sprints so it all starts here.”
The George Moore Stakes is the first leg of the Sprinters Crown Bonus Series over the Summer Carnival and if one horse is to win three of the designated five races, connections will pick up a $400,000 bonus.
The remaining four races in the Sprinters Crown Series are the Listed $150,000 Lough Neagh Stakes (1350m) on December 16 and the $150,000 The Buffering (1350m) on December 30, both at Doomben and the $1m Magic Millions Cup (1400m) and $1m Magic Millions Sprint (1200m) both at the Gold Coast on January 13.
The Doomben track was rated a heavy 8 on Friday following a deluge on Wednesday but Hansen is not concerned about Monsieur Gustave handling the rain affected track after having won four times on a soft rated surface.
“A slow track won’t worry him,” Hansen said.
Apprentice Tiffani Brooker has retained the ride on Monsieur Gustave following the pair’s win in the Keith Noud Quality and has the job of pushing the five year old forward for the outside barrier in the George Moore Stakes field that has been reduced to ten runners following the early scratchings of Big Money, Egyptian Symbol, Palazzo Pubblico and Perfect Dare.
Betting for the George More Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au has Monsieur Gustave as the second pick at $3 behind the $2.70 favourite Calanda from the Peter and Paul Snowden stable.