Trainer Shawn Mathrick saw something new from his promising sprinter Cause For Concern in a gallop ahead of his first shot at open company.
Cause For Concern takes on a handy field of sprinters in the Group 3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday, the first feature race of the new season.
Mathrick said Cause For Concern was a slow maturing type, but his gallop at Cranbourne on Tuesday morning was the best work he had produced prior to any of his eight previous starts that has seen the gelding notch four wins.
“He’s usually very cruisy, so that was exciting,” Mathrick said.
“Usually, he gets up beside another horse and waits a little bit, but on Tuesday he just destroyed the horse he worked with. It was a whole different horse we were looking at.
“He’s bouncing out of his skin, he’s bucking and feeling pretty good.”
Cause For Concern has won three of his past four starts and Mathrick was ruing a lack of early speed when the gelding was beaten in the Listed Creswick Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on July 1.
He came out at his next start to win over 1400m at Flemington two weeks later.
“When he got beaten in the Creswick, he got beaten by a good horse, but it had it easy up front,” Mathrick said.
“It walked and then sprinted while he had to come from the back and carted himself up.
“I think it will be a bit different on Saturday. There will be a bit more pressure, there’s not that sit, sprint sort of horse in there.”
Mathrick dreams that Cause For Concern is the Stakes horse that he has been looking for.
“I still say he is untapped. He’s still immature in his brain,” Mathrick said.
“If he has got that other gear that I think he has, he is going to be a quality horse.
“He’s very laid back, a cool cat. When he pulls up, he’s not heaving, his recovery is quick, which tells me there is more to come.”
With 54kg, Craig Williams replaces Damien Oliver who guided Cause For Concern to his latest win.
“I’ve known Craig all my life and I rang his manager and got in early because they can be hard to get when all the good stables are after them,” Mathrick said.