A good draw has enticed trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou to give Deficit his chance in staying test
Trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou are hoping Deficit can pass his litmus test when he steps up to 2400m for the first time in Friday’s Australia Day Cup at Warwick Farm.
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Trainer Gerald Ryan can’t fault Deficit heading into Friday’s $200,000 Listed Australia Day Cup (2400m) but concedes his consistent galloper will have a significant question to answer at Warwick Farm.
Ryan, who conditions alongside Sterling Alexiou, is testing Deficit out over the mile and a half for the first time after making the decision to run the gelding at the public holiday meeting instead of Saturday’s Royal Randwick card.
Deficit was also an acceptor in a 2000m event twenty four hours later but a wide draw on the weekend pushed Ryan towards giving his son of Snitzel his chance in the Australia Day feature.
“We will test him at the 2400m and he is drawn a bit better,” Ryan said.
“A few of his runs this time in, he has been drawing bad barriers and having to go back all the time.
“If he was drawn better on Saturday, we would have went that way but he’s drawn wide where he would need to go all the way forward or all the way back where as on Friday, he might just land in a nice spot.”
Ryan is hopeful Tyler Schiller can take advantage of a superior gate in barrier seven on Friday where Deficit is a $12 chance to win from clear favourite Naval College ($1.70)
Deficit returns to his home state after travelling to Queensland to run in the $1 million Magic Millions Trophy (2200m) for the second consecutive year where he battled on strongly for fourth in the Gold Coast feature.
“He has come back from Queensland really well,” Ryan said.
“He has gone up there a bit so he knew where he was and travelled home good. He’s done well since he got back.”
Ryan and Alexiou have chances across the Warwick Farm card but arguably the most exciting will be the unbeaten Franz Josef.
Ryan is hoping Franz Josef can blossom into a Brisbane Winter Carnival contender as he prepares for his last run this preparation in the Ole Kirk First Yearlings Benchmark 64 Handicap (1600m).
The promising chestnut was a strong debut winner at the mile at Randwick on Boxing Day and is a $2.40 favourite to repeat the performance.
“His win was good and the form has been franked,” Ryan said.
“He has trained on good, he looks well and gives the impression he will 1600m will suit him with a good staying pedigree on his dam line.
“It’s only been a month between runs with that trial because there was nothing else to run him in.”
Meanwhile, Union Army and High Blue Sea will make up a small but select team for the stable at Royal Randwick on Saturday with both horses chasing back-to-back wins.
Union Army give @KPMcEvoy a back-to-back double. pic.twitter.com/Y3EIrKSeo8
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 13, 2024
Union Army is in his first preparation back from a bleed and had been edging closer to a comeback win in two starts before breaking through stylishly over the Rosehill 1200m last start.
He is a $3.30 favourite to win again under the urging of Kerrin McEvoy this weekend.
“Union Army went good the other day and Kerrin rode him well,” Ryan said.
“Things panned out right for him. They went along at a nice speed without overdoing it where at Randwick (two starts ago), they went mid-race and then they slowed up a bit.
“You would just like to see them roll along a bit at a nice even speed and he will hit the line good again you’d think. He certainly hasn’t gone backwards.”
High Blue Sea’s victory on the same card as his stablemate was a reward for patience.
The son of Merchant Navy was first up for more than a year after requiring an extended stint on the sidelines.
High Blue Sea was bound for Hong Kong when a vets examination found chips in his knee that required surgery and the gelding was sidelined again last year due to a hairline fracture in his shoulder.
The son of Merchant Navy had put together back-to-back victories before the injury enforced lay off and made it a hat-trick with a surprise win in his first run for a year.
“I thought High Blue Sea might have needed the run, even though his trials and his form into it were good,” Ryan said.
“Because his first trial he was qualifying after injury, we trialled him in what he races in, the blinkers and tongue tie.
“People said his second trial was ordinary but it was good because he didn’t have the blinkers on.”
High Blue Sea is a $3.40 chance to extend his winning run to four in the Toyota Forklifts Benchmark 78 Handicap (1400m).
Originally published as A good draw has enticed trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou to give Deficit his chance in staying test
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