Ayrton (NZ) (Iffraaj) is to be paid up as a late entry into the A$1.5 million Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm after disappointing in the Gr.2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) when eighth.
Trainer Mick Price said on Monday that a combination of factors, including the dire weather forecast, had forced a revision of his winter plans with connections opting to redirect the four-year-old to the 1400m feature rather than go up in distance in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2000m).
‘’I’ve have had a think about where to go with Ayrton and given the predicted wet weather and his failure to handle the wet ground, we are going to run in the Stradbroke on a late nomination,’’ Price told Racing.com.
‘’Eagle Farm, getting to the bigger track – it’s either that or the paddock because I couldn’t preserve with him with this wet weather that coming.
‘’His 1400m form is OK. He’ll need to be a closer in the Stradbroke, but he’s won there and the owners (Roll The Dice) are accepting of the Stradbroke plan so that’s what we’ll do.
