Candlewick well-backed for stakes test in Hawkesbury Guineas

Promising filly Candlewick has had the bar raised substantially but it hasn’t stopped punters backing her into favouritism in the Hawkesbury Guineas.

Trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton are cautious not to dive “too deep too quickly” with promising filly Candlewick but believe the timing is right to test her in stakes grade at Hawkesbury on Saturday.

O’Shea and Charlton will have a strong hand in the Group 3 $250,000 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) with Candlewick joined by Getafix.

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Candlewick could be considered unlucky to not still be unbeaten but boasts an outstanding record of three wins and a second in four starts.

She made the perfect return to her second racing campaign with a first-up win over 1200m that encouraged the stable to raise the bar a little higher.

Talent runs rich in her family with the highly-promising filly being a half-sister to 2020 The Everest hero Classique Legend.

“Candlewick is a lovely filly,” Charlton said.

“She is a beautiful home-bred and improving really nicely.

“You could make a case that she could potentially be unlucky not to be unbeaten at this stage of her career and this is a good point to try her on stakes grade.

“I think it’s not the be-all and end-all this preparation but there are some nice races potentially in Queensland or in the spring but we will be guided by her and won’t dive too deep too quickly.”

Early support has seen Candlewick backed from $11 into $5.50 favouritism while Getafix is a $19 chance.

Getafix hasn’t been tested in stakes company since finishing sixth in the Group 2 Todman Stakes during his two-year-old season.

Candlewick, a half-sister to The Everest winner Classique Legend, has been heavily backed in the Hawkesbury Guineas. Picture: Bradley Photos

The gelding produced a bit of a head scratcher first-up when he only beat a runner home over 1200m but the stable is confident he’s capable of a much-improved showing.

“It was a weird run in a way because we were expecting him to be really sharp so it was whether he just cornered a little bit weird and got slightly detached from the field in doing so, I am not quite sure,” Charlton said.

“His work has been quite good and he looks fantastic so we wouldn’t be surprised if he bounced right back to form to a level that would be competitive on Saturday, particularly as he handles wet ground.

“He is similar to her and a race like the Fred Best would be appealing if he progressed back to form.”

O’Shea and Charlton will launch another two-pronged attack in the Group 3 $250,000 Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) with outsiders Athabascan ($61) and relatively new addition Strait Acer ($34).

Athabascan faces a massive drop in trip after finishing fifth in the Group 1 Sydney Cup last start with the stable eyeing off another staying target in a fortnight’s time.

Getafix can bounce back from a disappointing first-up run at Hawkesbury. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

“He had a freshen up after the Sydney Cup and responded well,” Charlton said.

“This will be way short of his best but it might be a run that gets him on track for a race like the Andrew Ramsden (on May 17).”

Strait Acer joined O’Shea and Charlton at the beginning of this preparation and only beat a couple of runners home first-up in a 1400m Benchmark 100 at Randwick.

Countyourblessings gained a start in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Crown but the stable have elected to run in The Lawn Shed Benchmark 88 Handicap (1400m) instead.

She will be joined by Captain Amelia in the final event on the program.

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Colt is One Step Closer to first win

Untapped colt One Step Closer is a horse of the future but trainer Tom Charlton insists he still can make his presence felt in the now at Hawkesbury on Saturday.

One Step Closer will line up for just his second career start in the Clarendon Stakes (1400m) for two-year-olds at the feature stand-alone meeting.

The son of two-time Group 1 winner Castelvecchio was a beaten favourite on debut over seven furlongs at Kembla Grange last start, finishing 1-1/2 lengths off the winner in fourth.

Despite the defeat, Charlton says his stable thought the performance had plenty of merit.

“We were happy with him on debut,“ Charlton, who trains with John O’Shea, said.

“His trials and work suggested he could be a winning chance and it was a more acceptable debut.

“He should improve off that and I certainly think he isn’t without a chance on Saturday.”

One Step Closer is a $10 chance to win at the second time of asking with Zac Lloyd aboard but will face significant challenges in the form of strong debut winner Aerodrome ($2 favourite) and the promising Damien ($3.90).

Aerodrome is currently one of the leading contenders for the JJ Atkins Stakes at $11 with One Step Closer in the same market as a $51 outsider.

O’Shea and Charlton are taking things one race at a time with One Step Closer but believe the lightly-raced juvenile’s best is likely still a few months down the track.

“He is definitely going to be a better three-year-old for sure and will stay further,” Charlton said.

“What trip he gets to in time, I am not sure but he’s potentially a 2000m-2400m horse so we will see.”

While not a stakes race, the Clarendon Stakes is undoubtedly a feature event on the program with past winners including Zardozi, Graff and Zoustar.