Well-credentialed import Bright Stripes to make Australian debut in Benchmark 84 at Sandown

An import with strong form in Europe will make his Australian debut at Sandown on Saturday, but trainer Mark Walker is unsure what to expect from Bright Stripes.

Punters and the Mark Walker stable have something in common when assessing Saturday’s Sandown meeting.

Neither will have a great idea of how import Bright Stripes will perform in Saturday’s Same Race Multi Handicap (1400m).

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Bright Stripes’s European form is stronger than the Benchmark 84 level at which he will start his Australian campaign after winning a Listed race over a mile in Ireland last May.

The son of Caulfield Guineas winner Starspangledbanner has also placed behind one-time Cox Plate favourite Diego Velazquez and multiple stakes winner Mutasarref in Ireland.

Walker’s Melbourne representative Ben Gleeson said the trans-Tasman operation bought the horse at a tried horse sale last year.

• Maskiell’s surprise day job selling goldfish during ban

“We bought him as a Listed winner that had performed in many Group races against some promising horses,” Gleeson said.

“A good friend of mine, who’s a vet in Europe called Duncan Moir, helped us find him and we bought him from the tried horse sales.

“He’d had plenty of runs as a three-year-old, but he was sound and he had good, clean X-rays so he had a good foundation to purchase and hopefully make the grade out here.”

Bright Stripes is one of two imports for the Walker stable to get to the races in Melbourne along with Eagle Angel, who ran fifth at Kilmore on Tuesday.

Bright Stripes winning a Listed race at The Curragh in 2024. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images

Gleeson said the stable had tempered early expectations for Bright Stripes, who has had three jumpouts leading up to his Australian debut.

“We haven’t wanted to rush him. He’s had the three jumpouts and performed nicely in all of them,” Gleeson said.

“We’re always mindful that it can take 12 months for these horses to settle in.

“There’s a lot of questions but he’s only trialled three times at Cranbourne so he hasn’t left Cranbourne since he got here.

“That’s another question mark, how he behaves at the races.

“We’ve got a lot to learn with him and we’ve been very level-headed with the owners.

“We’re going there on Saturday for an experience and to get a measuring stick on how he compares to his Australian opposition.”

• Nichols to unveil well-bred filly after breeder’s bad luck

Gleeson said Melbourne’s weather shifting into winter temperatures has confused Bright Stripes, who would be expecting warmer conditions as per his previous years in England.

“You want them eating and putting on condition but that comes and goes with the changing of the weather,” Gleeson said.

“Typically, at this time of the year, they’re going into beautiful 20-degree weather, whereas the last two mornings, it’s been zero degrees and they (Bright Stripes and Eagle Angel) don’t know what’s going on.

“Their coats don’t know what’s going on and they eat some days but not others, so it’s a real learning curve for both them and us.”

Apprentice Tom Prebble will ride Bright Stripes fresh from his maiden stakes win in last Saturday’s Listed Straight Six at Flemington.

Originally published as Well-credentialed import Bright Stripes to make Australian debut in Benchmark 84 at Sandown