If things had gone to plan for Wolfy (NZ) (Tivaci) on debut at Caulfield, the colt would be enjoying a short break ahead of preparing for a big spring target.
Instead, the Nick Ryan-trained three-year-old will be at Sandown on Wednesday looking for his maiden win in the Ladbroke It! Plate (1300m).
Ryan has Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) aspirations for Wolfy, but the son of Tivaci will need to win on Wednesday to keep the dream alive.
Wolfy finished an unlucky second to Ouroboros over 1200m at Caulfield on July 22 at his first start.
“He didn’t win but it was a fantastic debut run,” Ryan said.
“Had he have won the other day, well he wouldn’t be running in this Maiden race for a start, and we probably would have given him a little freshen.
“If he’s going to go on a Guineas path, you would expect him to go and win tomorrow and then we can go and really start to think about it.
“He’d probably have to time to have a week or so to freshen up and then it would be two or three runs into the Guineas.
“But we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. First, he has to there and win and be impressive and then we can start really talking about Guineas.”
Ryan has liked what he has seen from Wolfy since his debut run at Caulfield.
And the trainer expects the slight rise in distance to be in the colt’s favour.
“Although he was unlucky on debut, he still raced like a horse having its first start,” Ryan said.
“He’s certainly come on with the run. He’s trained on super. His gallops have been really good, and he’s taken a lot of benefit from the outing.
“The extra 100 metres is going to help him, especially with the style of horse he is and the long straight on the Hillside track at Sandown, you would think is going to suit him down to the ground.”
