Trainer Bjorn Baker has opted against sending his promising colt Warwoven to Caulfield for the traditional Guineas Week track gallops scheduled for Tuesday morning. Instead, the star galloper will continue his acclimatisation to racing in the Melbourne direction with another robust workout at his Sydney base.
Following his impressive victory in the Golden Rose, Warwoven stepped up his preparations for this Saturday’s lucrative $3 million Group 1 event with his most significant anti-clockwise gallop last week. He is slated for another workout in company at Warwick Farm on Tuesday.
All eight of Warwoven’s previous starts have been conducted racing right-handed. However, Baker expresses substantial confidence in the son of Sword Of State, believing he possesses the ability to perform equally well when racing in the opposite direction.
“He’s fantastic, he’s got a great attitude, he’s really bombproof,” Baker stated. “He had a nice gallop left-handed on Thursday, it wasn’t about breaking the clock, not in his first proper gallop, and we will probably give him a mate on Tuesday and aim to do a bit more. But he’s been very, very good.”
Warwoven secured his inaugural Group 1 triumph when he outclassed his competitors by an impressive 3-1/4 lengths in the $1 million Golden Rose on September 26. This marked the colt’s first foray over the 1400m distance. Previously, he had clinched the Group 2 Run To The Rose and the Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes, both over 1200m. Baker’s post-Saturday plans suggest he anticipates 1600m will not pose a problem for Warwoven.
The New Zealand-bred trainer is eager to target the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Flemington on October 24, provided Warwoven performs to expectations in the Caulfield Guineas.
“You have to dream and that’s what the race is about,” Baker commented when questioned about the possibility of a Cox Plate start. “His mother was a Group 2 winner over 2000m. He relaxes really well and he can absorb pressure, which he showed last Saturday. It’s one step at a time, we all know that, but if he goes to the Caulfield Guineas and goes as well as I hope he will I think we’ll be able to go forward to the Cox Plate.”
The barrier draw for the Caulfield Guineas is scheduled to occur just a few hours after Tuesday’s trackwork session concludes. The remaining fields for Saturday’s program, which also feature the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and The Might And Power (2000m), will be finalised on Wednesday morning.
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