A day after Wolfy (NZ) (Tivaci) broke through for his maiden city success, trainer Nick Ryan knew he had had to press on to the Caulfield Guineas with Wolfy.
The three-year-old scored at Flemington over 1420m on September 24, following a Sale maiden win, and Ryan was going to leave a decision on whether Wolfy started in Saturday’s Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) until later that week.
“I was very mindful that he’s a very good colt and it was his first prep,” Ryan said.
“I left the races that day saying, ‘I’ll let the horse tell me’, and it didn’t take long.
“We took him to the beach on the Monday morning after he raced on the Sunday. He was bucking in the water, he’d licked the bin, so it would have been a sin not to run on Saturday.
“I know how good a colt he is, and I can’t wait to see him in the autumn, but he’s put his hand up, so we’ll roll the dice.”
There has been a ‘spruik’ on Wolfy from day one when he the son of Tivaci made his debut at Caulfield over 1200m at Caulfield in July, finishing second.
On the strength of that, Wolfy went to Sandown and was expected to win a 1300m maiden, but was ridden out of his comfort zone, finishing sixth as a $1.80 favourite.
“There were jaws on the ground everywhere that day,” Ryan said.
“We picked ourselves up, we charged on. We went to Geelong and ran into a good horse of (Ben, Will & J D) Hayes’, and he hasn’t really stepped a foot wrong since that defeat at Sandown.
“We learned a lot about him that day. He was on speed and still green, but we’ve picked ourselves up and hopefully he can reward us on Saturday.”
Ryan took advantage of a gallop on the course proper at Caulfield on Tuesday morning.
“I know he’s raced there, but Caulfield can be tricky, so another look wasn’t going to hurt him,” he said.
“He’s been running good sectionals and he’s been rating quite well, but if anything, he’s been crying out for the mile.
“That was my concern last time whether the 1400 metres was going to be far enough, but he picked them up quite easily.”
Wolfy will be ridden by Blake Shinn who is looking for his first win in the time-honoured race.
Ryan said Shinn had done a lot of the early work on the colt, even putting Wolfy through the barriers ahead of his first jump-out.
“He knows the horse very well. He’s helped educate the horse, so it gives me confidence on Saturday,” Ryan said.
