Although the record book will show former English galloper Stipulate ran 12th in Saturday’s Group 1 $1 million Emirates Stakes, new trainer David Hayes was not unhappy, reports Racing Network. While he would have preferred the horse to run better, he noted he was only beaten four lengths.
“I thought he was fair in what was a very hot race, and he wasn’t beaten that far,” Hayes told Racing Network today.
“I think he needs to acclimatise so we’ll give him a freshen-up now,” he added.
When pressed on what lay ahead for the beautifully bred five-year-old son of Dansili (out of a Sadler’s Wells mare), Hayes said:
“I’d like to think he is an Australian Cup horse next autumn.
"That’s what we’ll set him for and we’ll find out if he has the class or not for a race of that nature,” he added.
Hayes said he won’t have anything contesting the feature races at Caulfield this week, and Hong Kong International entries Bass Strait and Pago Rock would not be going to Hong Kong, “because they aren’t going well enough”.