Smart three-year-old Opening Address to have a delayed start to Spring Carnival

Injury derailed Derby plans but smart three-year-old Opening Address is undergoing equestrian work ahead of his return to racing later this year.

Talented galloper Opening Address will be out to return to the heights that led him to a Melbourne Cup Day win at Flemington when he gets back to the track after an injury-enforced absence. Picture: Michael Klein

A one-time Derby hopeful is slowly building fitness after injury derailed his bid for an autumn Group 1 success.

Opening Address showed he was a stayer of the future when narrowly beaten in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase before saluting in a three-year-old race on Melbourne Cup Day during a promising spring campaign.

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Those runs prompted trainer Liam Howley to aim Opening Address for the Group 1 South Australian Derby in the autumn.

Opening Address started his autumn campaign with two sound efforts in the Group 3 CS Hayes Stakes and Australian Guineas, but disaster struck in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at The Valley in March.

The gelding had another start after the Alister Clark Stakes, but the Morphettville race showed Howley his charge needed time off.

“Just on that really ordinary day at The Valley, he just tore muscles in his hind end,” Howley said.

“He’d come back bigger and stronger so we were going over that path, but it just derailed really quickly.

“We thought we’d got him back and he was right but when we got him back to the races, the muscle memory kicked in and he just didn’t let down.

“We tipped him straight out and gave him a good long spell.”

Opening Address was injured in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes at The Valley in March. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

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Howley said the early indications showed Opening Address had done well in his eight weeks in the paddock.

He said the son of So You Think was enjoying some equestrian work during a long and slow build up to his return to racing later in the year.

“Now he’s back in pre-training doing dome dressage work with Rob Palm, the breaker,” Howley said.

“All the indications are that he’s feeling good in behind but we’re taking a softer approach.

“We’re thinking more towards the back of the spring with options there.

“We’ll bypass the heat, get him right and focus on the autumn.”

Originally published as Smart three-year-old Opening Address to have a delayed start to Spring Carnival