He’s a galloper that’s earned almost $3 million in earnings, and the Greg Hickman-prepared Eleven Eleven will be looking to add to that bank when he contests the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle this Saturday.
A winner of nine races including multiple at Listed level, the Fastnet Rock gelding has done a fantastic job for connections and has shown up on some of the biggest race days along the east coast.
The six-year-old was a close-up third behind Apache Chase in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm back in May, before failing in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap a fortnight later. He has since returned with a solid fifth behind Bella Nipotina in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley in testing conditions.
Hickman is well aware of the quality field that The Hunter has attracted this weekend.
“It’s going to be a pretty strong race I think,” Hickman told Sky Racing HQ’s Dave Stanley.
“We had to do something between here and the Magic Millions (in January).
“He’ll run in The Hunter, then we’ll give him a little bit of a break.
“He’ll have a trial at Rosehill about the 24th and then we’ll give him a run in the Razor Sharp (at Randwick on December 10) and then probably trial again and then he’ll go to Queensland.
“We’ll keep him nice and fresh, he likes it that way.”
Hickman was keen to engage in-form hoop Tommy Berry for the ride this Saturday, and is hopeful of keeping him on long term.
“That’s what has been organised,” Hickman said.
“He (Tommy Berry) sits on between now and the Magic Millions.
“All the boys that have been riding him have been riding well. But we just come up with Tommy because he can ride anywhere between 54kg and 58kg, so that’s the main reason.
“Don’t really want to chop and change too much and (he’s) someone that can ride whatever weight we want him to ride at.”
Looking elsewhere, Hickman has his Dundeel six-year-old gelding Insider Trader nominated for the Benchmark 68 over 2000m at Kembla Grange this Saturday, and believes he can bounce back to form.
“His run was okay the other day, I thought his work was excellent on Tuesday,” Hickman said.
“He gets his chance to win a race this Saturday.”
As of Wednesday morning, Eleven Eleven was rated a $8.50 chance with the TAB for this weekend’s The Hunter.