Rob Heathcote pushes Rothfire comeback back a week after George Moore scratching

Rob Heathcote may be forced to change his summer plans with Rothfire but defended his decision to scratch the comeback sprinter last Saturday.

Rothfire will be saved for this Saturday’s Bribie Handicap at Eagle Farm. Picture: Kevin Farmer.

Rob Heathcote already feels vindicated in pushing back the fairytale return for his stable star Rothfire, saying he wouldn’t have stood a chance against a flying Hidden Wealth on a heavy track at Doomben on Saturday.

The Eagle Farm trainer scratched Rothfire from the George Moore Stakes on Saturday after the track came up a Heavy 10, preferring to wait a week for the 1000m scamper in the Listed Bribie Handicap at Eagle Farm instead.

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Heathcote conceded the scratching may force him to alter his summer plans with Rothfire, but said he had to do the right thing by the horse.

“I couldn’t have run him on that track, it was very heavy, it was a matter of looking after the horse with all he has been through,” Heathcote said.

“He will go around in the Bribie on Saturday.

“To a degree it changes things this summer for him, we probably won’t go to the Lough Neagh (December 14) now, I don’t want to be running him in the 1000m in the Bribie and then back him straight up.

“We might go straight go to The Buffering (December 28).

“It creates a few dramas but it is what it is, there is no way I could have run him on Saturday.”

Hidden Wealth was dominant winner of the George Moore Stakes last Saturday. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

While Heathcote is adamant he has Rothfire back and firing, he said he wouldn’t have stood a chance of reeling in Hidden Wealth with the huge weights swing on Saturday.

The Tony Gollan-trained sprinter has put the writing on the wall as one to watch over the summer and Heathcote admits it has taken him by surprise.

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“He wouldn’t have beaten Hidden Wealth in a month of Sundays on that heavy track,” Heathcote said.

“He’s run one (minute) 10 (seconds) on a Heavy 12, he won like a Group 1 horse really.”

As a home-bred who never went through the sales, Rothfire is not eligible for the super rich Magic Millions race day.

He won his way through to the Magic Millions QTIS in January this year, however, after winning the King Of The Mountain in Toowoomba on New Year’s Day.

The rich slot race has been moved to later in the year however to better suit the racing calendar.

Originally published as Rob Heathcote pushes Rothfire comeback back a week after George Moore scratching