Group 2 winner Pocketing returns to action at Rosehill trials on Tuesday, with trainers Richard and Will Freedman keeping an open mind on his spring campaign.
The rising four-year-old, by dual Group 1 winner Grunt, resumes after a lengthy summer-autumn prep that culminated in an eighth-place finish in the ATC Australian Derby.
While that result may seem modest, Pocketing had earlier secured a gutsy win in the Tulloch Stakes (2000m), earning a Racing and Sports rating of 108 – which he matched in the Derby just four days later.
“He is going to find it harder because he is now a Group Two winner,” Will Freedman said.
“He looks very well… but he is going to need to find those handicaps where he gets in light.”
While a $51 quote for the Epsom Handicap has him in early markets, Freedman says they’ll tread carefully.
“If he shows any signs of not being right there he won’t do too much this prep.”
Also stepping out in Trial 9 is Bjorn Baker’s in-form galloper Perfumist.