Kyle Wilson-Taylor will bypass Weetwood in Toowoomba to reunite with Punch Lane in either Sydney or Melbourne
Kyle Wilson-Taylor will bypass the Weetwood meeting to ride a horse who could take him to Group 1 glory this spring south of the border.
Horse Racing
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Kyle Wilson-Taylor will skip Saturday’s time honoured Weetwood meeting in Toowoomba to ride Punch Lane south of the border in what he is hoping can drag him to spring glory.
The Group 1 winner will ride Punch Lane in either Sydney (Group 2 Shannon Stakes, 1500m) or Melbourne (Group 3 Sandown Stakes, 1500m) and said he is a horse he wants to hitch his wagon to following a hot finish to the winter in Queensland.
Wilson-Taylor struck up a relationship with trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman during the winter and said he has been keen to put his name up in lights in some spring majors.
The Brisbane-based jockey has twice travelled to Sydney just to trial Punch Lane but wasn’t in the saddle for his first-up run in the Group 2 Theo Marks (1300m) at Rosehill earlier this month where he only managed to beat three runners home.
• Graham caps off stellar season with coveted Ken Russell award
Wilson-Taylor, who won the Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara last year, said Punch Lane is worth skipping the Toowoomba meeting for on Saturday.
“I think he is a pretty good horse, he still has some furnishing to do, which he has done since I rode him up here,” he said.
“We don’t have a lot of big races up here at this time of the year, so I’m looking for other ways to put my name up in lights a bit.
“It will be either Sydney or Melbourne, they are looking to accept at both tracks and see where it comes up best for him.
“He won those two races here very nicely and he has gone back down for a break.
“I went down to Sydney to trial him a couple of times and I thought he was flying.
“It might have looked a bit below par, his first up run the other day, but he had to do a bit of work from the gate and never got any peace in the run.
“He was entitled to fold up a bit late like he did, he only got beat a few lengths in the end.
“If he can get some give in the track with a nice draw, we could probably take a sit and have every chance.”
• Mishani owner cleans up: ‘More she drifted, more I had on’
During the winter carnival, Sam Freedman declared that Wilson-Taylor wouldn’t be out of place in the Victorian riding ranks and has stuck true to his word in keeping him on the horse on Saturday.
“They had a fair few runners up here, I had some light weight rides for them and I think my first winner for them was at the Sunny Coast on a Friday night, we have built a pretty good relationship since then,” Wilson-Taylor said.
“They sort of said if I do the work, I would be a chance of riding him, so I’m keen to jump on him again on Saturday, wherever it will be.”
Originally published as Kyle Wilson-Taylor will bypass Weetwood in Toowoomba to reunite with Punch Lane in either Sydney or Melbourne
Mitch Cohen’s Blackbook: Portelli mulls over two-pronged Alan Brown tilt
Encap will have a new jockey in the Alan Brown Stakes while stablemate Kintyre could also back up in the $1.5 million feature.
Best bets and inside mail for Warwick Farm and Muswellbrook on Monday
Well credentialed import Aristonous looks ready and able to peak on Monday and go one better than his most second at Warwick Farm over a similar distance.