Trainer Rex Lipp says Cifrado must win BRC Sprint to make Stradbroke Handicap field

It will be a golden ticket to the Stradbroke Handicap or a spell for Cifrado, depending on how he goes in the BRC Sprint.

Toowoomba trainer Rex Lipp has declared that his stable star Cifrado needs to win Saturday’s BRC Sprint to have any hope of making the prestigious Stradbroke Handicap.

“He’s got to win it,” Lipp said about the $300,000 Group 3 race, which offers a golden ticket into the feature Stradbroke (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 14.

“If he doesn’t win it, he goes to the paddock.”

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Cejay Graham returns from suspension to hop on board the four-year-old gelding from barrier two in the BRC Sprint (1350m) after regular rider Kyle Wilson-Taylor decided to instead steer $19 chance Matcha Latte for Wyong trainer Sara Ryan.

“He hasn’t had a lot of luck on him so who knows?” Lipp said about Wilson-Taylor declining the ride.

“He’s an easy horse to ride, you’ve just got to use your common sense. He’s as good as I can get him, it’s just a matter of whether he’s good enough.”

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With a rating of 102, Cifrado sits on the fringe on qualifying for the $3m Stradbroke but he will need to beat a strong field in the BRC Sprint that includes the Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained $3.70 favourite War Machine, which is coming off a last-start victory over Jimmy The Bear in a Benchmark 100 (1400m) at Caulfield on May 10.

The Hayes brothers’ Rise At Dawn, which finished fourth in last month’s Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick, is also strong in the market at $6.50.

Cifrado, who has won $1.7m in prizemoney with five wins from 26 starts, is a $23 chance in the BRC Sprint.

Cifrado (left) will be spelled if he doesn’t win the BRC Sprint on Saturday. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

Last year’s Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner will appreciate the extra distance of 1350m after his flop in the 1200m Group 2 Victory Stakes this month.

Topweight Yellow Brick, trained by father-and-daughter combination Tony and Maddy Sears, has a 107 rating, which should be good enough to make the Stradbroke field.

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The five-year-old gelding, who hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the $1.5m Magic Millions QTIS Open (1300m) in January, has won both his trials this month.

“He’s in very good order, I couldn’t be any happier with him,” Maddy Sears said.

“His rating looks enough to get him in the Straddie so hopefully we don’t have the worry of anything. We’ll go for the win-and-your’re-in theory and get the job done.

“I just want the sun to keep shining and shining because he’s very good on a dry surface.

“Most times he’s been beaten it’s been caused by a wet track.”

Originally published as Trainer Rex Lipp says Cifrado must win BRC Sprint to make Stradbroke Handicap field