Following 18 months of careful scheming, the team behind Don’t Hope Do is poised to witness the payoff from their efforts in a Group 1 dash at Caulfield.
Simon Zahra, the trainer, indicated that the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) scheduled for Saturday at Caulfield offers the prime opportunity for Don’t Hope Do to claim Group 1 victory.
During his training collaboration with cousin Mathew Ellerton, they got Booker ready for success in the 2019 Oakleigh Plate, and Zahra served as assistant trainer for Ellerton’s preparations of River Dove (2023) and Miss Kournikova (2001), plus he worked under John Hawkes for the 2000 triumph with Sports.
“Mathew and I won three, and we didn’t think Booker could win,” Zahra said.
“We sort of knew what type of horse it takes to win it, and whether this bloke is up to that class, time will tell, but the weight certainly helps.”
Don’t Hope Do has notched four victories in 15 outings and thrives as a quick runner, with successes spanning 1000 to 1100m distances.
Prior to this, he has tested stakes grade only twice, placing fourth in the Listed Wylie Handicap at Morphettville last September, and his latest run was a fresh-up second in the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on February 7.
“We’ve placed him quite well over the last 12 months, but I said to the owners, probably 18 months ago, the Oakleigh Plate was probably the race for him,” Zahra said.
“The 1100 (metres) at Caulfield, he loves it, he’ll get in with no weight, so that was the plan and, so far, it’s worked.
“We put him up against better sprinters in the Rubiton at set-weights and thought if he can compete with them then under handicap conditions in the Oakleigh Plate, he’ll run him.
“We didn’t have him screwed down, we left a little in the tank in case we got into the Oakleigh Plate and we’ve got him there.”
Oak Hill and Hedged, who took first and third in the Rubiton Stakes, are lumbered with identical weights as two weeks prior, whereas Don’t Hope Do sheds 4.5kg.
Moreover, in all three of his Caulfield appearances, Don’t Hope Do has hit the placings, featuring a victory last October.
“He loves it here, especially the 1100 (metres),” Zahra said.
“He might get to the front a bit easier with Jigsaw and some of those horses not running.
“We’ve drawn well, so we’ll see how we go.”
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