A wide barrier draw holds no concerns for Peter Snowden regarding the two-year-old Seeiaye, in fact, he prefers it.
Typically a horse that races on speed, the young galloper has missed the start on a couple of occasions in his five-race career. With this in mind, Snowden is satisfied with barrier eight from the 12 runners for Saturday’s Kia Ora Bloodlines to Headlines Handicap over 1200 metres.
“It’s better because if he blows the start drawn inside, they get across him and it’s no good,” Snowden stated. “The wider the better. If he makes a mistake, he gets a second chance.”
Despite this, Snowden is hopeful Seeiaye will begin cleanly. On the three occasions he has, the colt secured victory in the Max Lees Classic (900m) at Newcastle, a fourth-place finish in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at Wyong, and a placing at Rosehill.
“He likes to race right on speed,” Snowden commented. “He stepped better the other day and he raced better, so it’s imperative that he begins well and puts himself there.”
Although Seeiaye has not won since his debut in November last year, his most recent second behind the promising Omolong over 1100m at Rosehill demonstrated considerable merit.
Omolong is being discussed as a potential spring carnival three-year-old contender next season, and Seeiaye was narrowly beaten by half a length.
“His effort was good. He ran at a really fast pace and was up on speed doing most of the work,” Snowden explained. “The horse that won was backed for a fortune, and he did well to stick on and run as close as he did.”
Saturday’s event represents one of the final opportunities for the current group of two-year-olds to secure a victory before they officially turn three on August 1, the horses’ birthday.
Seiaye enters the race third-up following an unplaced run on a heavy track in the Dalrello Stakes (1100m) at Eagle Farm in May, and a midfield performance behind Why So Hard at Rosehill last month, preceding his runner-up finish to Omolong.
His future campaign will be determined by his performance this weekend.
“We’ll see what he does on Saturday,” Snowden confirmed. “He’s had a trip to Brisbane and three runs now. This will be his fourth, so I’ll have a think about whether we press on any further or we pull up and get him back in the spring.”
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