It wasn’t the original aim, but trainer Troy Corstens is hoping Awesome Rock can secure a valuable victory in Saturday’s Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) at Doomben.
Originally on a path towards the Saturday’s $2 million Stradbroke Handicap (1350m), Corstens said he and his father/training partner Leon had to reconsider their plans for the son of Fastnet Rock when he finished third last start in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m).
“He needed to win his last start to get a run so we’ve reassessed things and if he runs a good race in the Guineas then we’ll be ecstatic,” Corstens said.
“He copped a bit of a black eye in the run the other day but other than that I’m very happy with the way he’s come through the run and its full steam ahead towards the Guineas.”
Corstens admitted he was relieved to see the colt bounce back to form last start in Brisbane after the three-year-old finished 11th of 13 first up in the Group 2 Euclase Stakes (1200m) in Adelaide.
“It was just what we needed to see from him because we were certain that he was going really well and then when he put in that shocker in Adelaide had it not been the track we were in big trouble,’ he said.
“But thankfully we were able to put the run to him simply not handling the soft track at all.”
One of the early favourites for last year’s Caulfield Guineas, the three-year-old missed the race due to injury after finishing third behind Rich Enuff in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield.
Pending his performance in the Guineas on Saturday, Corstens said might look at races between 1600 to 2000m for Awesome Rock in the spring.
“Initially we thought he was going to be a 1400m horse but as he matures I think 2000m isn’t going to be beyond him so if he can win on Saturday we might be able to look at a nice race for him in the spring.”
WATCH: Awesome Rock run third in the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas