The Group 1 $500,000 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on March 23 is now the first up target for the grey flash Chautauqua.
Chautauqua, above, needs to pass a barrier test before being allowed to head back to the races. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Team Hawkes trained Chautauqua wasn’t flashing when he stood in the barriers twice and failed to jump with the field in two barrier trials at Randwick last Tuesday.
Subsequently the one time world number sprinter was barred from the race track until he passes a barrier test that saw him jump with the rest of the field and complete a barrier trial.
Chautauqua was down to trial at Warwick Farm today but the Hawkes Team will now trial him at his home track at Rosehill on Thursday.
“He is a quirky horse, always has been, that is what makes Chautauqua, Chautauqua,” c0-trainer Michael Hawkes told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We have done some work with him (at the barriers) since, and we just feel that we should wait until Thursday.
Co-owner Rupert Legh said that Chautauqua is very temperamental and any little change of routine doesn’t sit well with him.
“He’s such a peculiar animal, if you change things for him, he loses it – he gets pretty cranky, he’s got a mind of his own,” Legh said.
Chautauqua’s main 2018 Autumn Carnival target is a fourth successive win in the Group 1 $2.5m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 7, day one of The Championships.
Chautauqua hasn’t been to the races since running fourth to Redzel down the Flemington straight in the Group 1 $1m Darley Classic (1200m) on the last day of the 2017 Melbourne Cup Carnival and hasn’t won a race since winning his third T J Smith Stakes during the 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Early betting for the T J Smith Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au has Chautauqua marked at $9 to defend his title while the Peter and Paul Snowden trained Redzel heads the market order at $4.60.
The Gerald Ryan trained Menari and Lindsay Park’s Vega Magic share the third line of betting at $11.
Early betting for the 2018 T J Smith Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4.60 Redzel, $9 Chautauqua, $11 Menari, Vega Magic, $15 Kementari, Merchant Navy, Redkirk Warrior, $17 Alizee, English, In Her Time, Ittetsu, $21 Spirit Of Valor, $26 Clearly Innocent, Danon Liberty, Librisa Breeze, She Will Reign, Trapeze Artist, Washington DC, $34 or better the rest.
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