Trainer Matt Laurie and the Yulong team have opted to bypass Sydney in favour of a more direct path to the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) with colt Vinrock.
Originally pencilled in for the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill, Vinrock will instead line up in Friday night’s Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley. Laurie said keeping the colt local gives him the best chance of peaking for his main spring target on October 11.
“We had a good think about it, and we just felt to give him the best chance to be back for the Guineas it would be to stay home and run in the Stutt,” Laurie said.
Vinrock, winner of the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes as a juvenile, resumed with a fourth at Caulfield before taking out the Listed Exford Plate at Flemington.
Only three horses this century — Helenus (2002), Whobegotyou (2008) and Griff (2023) — have completed the Stutt–Guineas double.