Talented stayer Quick Thinker (So You Think) showed enough in his 1030m trial at Rosehill on Tuesday morning to suggest a brief Queensland campaign could be on the cards.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained stayer had been on a path to the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) before a set-back days before his grand final.
Raced by prominent syndicators OTI, Quick Thinker had been a strong winner of the Gr.2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) a week out from the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m), but a minor high suspensory strain forced connections to watch on as those that finished behind him, namely Selino (Champs Elysees) (4th) and Rondinella (NZ) (Ocean Park) (2nd) ran the quinella in the Sydney Cup.
“It was nothing major, but it was enough to not push on to the Sydney Cup, where he could have aggravated it further,” Forsman said.
“Being a stallion, he had needed those runs prior to the Chairman’s just to hit peak fitness.
“Everything was lining up pretty well. He was going to have to run on a quicker track than what he won the Chairman’s on. It was a shame not to get him to that race, but I think we made the right decision.”
Forsman was pleased with the four-year-old’s trial on Tuesday and said a Brisbane campaign will now be considered.
“I thought it was good for him over 1030m,” he said. “A little bit of give in the ground helped him be competitive, but over that distance, that is about as good as we could have hoped for.
“We have to be realistic that we have lost a bit of time with him. That is something we are going to have to work out post this trial and also see how his next week of work goes.
“The race we have in the back of our mind is the Q22 (A$1.2 million Gr.2, 2200m), a weight-for-age race on June 12. There is a race the week before that we might use as a lead-up.
“A lot of it is weather dependent. First we have to make a call on how he has come through the trial, which will take a few days.
“Then we will look at a long-range weather forecast and decide, knowing that if he does get up there, he will need a rain-affected track to be competitive at weight-for-age over that distance.”
Given the setback, the Gr.2 Brisbane Cup (3200m) at Eagle Farm on same day as the Q22 is unlikely for the Kiwi stayer.
“It just would have been too tough with the time that he had to have off to get right. It’s a shame he couldn’t quite be ready for a race like that. We also have to consider his next preparation and heading to Melbourne for the spring,” Forsman said.
Another looking to put his hand up for a Queensland sojourn is stablemate Daqiansweet Junior (NZ) (Sweet Orange), who arrived in Sydney on Sunday and is nominated for a Benchmark 78 2000m race at Rosehill this weekend.
“We’re hoping to bolster his prizemoney to get a ticket to the Queensland Derby (Gr.1, 2400m),” Forsman said of the Group Three placed three-year-old.
“We will probably accept and see how that field shapes up on Saturday or whether we take the punt and hold off for a three-year-old 2000m race at Rosehill next Saturday.
“It is probably the better race, but it does mean a week back-up to the Derby.”
The stable’s Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) hopeful Joy Alone (NZ) (Roc de Cambes) will not be travelling across the Tasman this campaign, with the last-start runner-up in the Gr.2 Championship Stakes (2100m) headed for a spell.
“She had a minor hind lameness issue that is probably just a growing pain, but it was enough for us to pull pin and not take the punt to take her to Queensland,” Forsman said.
“She is a big girl, so we will give her a bit of time and look forward to racing her as a four-year-old.”
Meanwhile, closer to home the Baker and Forsman team will be represented by Spring Delight (NZ) (Tavistock) in the Gr.3 Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup (2200m) and Lubaya (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) in the Gr.3 Rydges Rotorua Stakes (1400m) in the feature meeting at Rotorua on Saturday.
