The Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) is back in its traditional timeslot this year and trainer Dom Sutton has the feature handicap in mind to launch Group One winner Feroce’s (NZ) (Super Seth) spring campaign.
Feroce’s Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) triumph at the beginning of March gave Sutton his first elite-level victory early in his training career and the three-year-old gelding was then sent for a spell after his midfield finish later that month against older horses in the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m).
While the Golden Eagle (1500m), which is restricted to four-year-olds and run in Sydney at the start of November looms as Feroce’s major spring target, Sutton also has Group One features in Melbourne also in his plans with the well-performed galloper.
“That (Golden Eagle) is his target, being a four-year-old, but there’s a lot of nice, 1400-metre and mile Group One races along the way that we’ve got circled,” Sutton said.
“The Eagle is a big carrot but there’s some very nice races along the way that we’re also targeting.
“He’s going to probably kick off in a Rupert Clarke.
“That’s the 20th (of) September and then likely into a Toorak Handicap (Gr.1, 1600m) and then freshen again for the Golden Eagle.”
For the past two seasons, the Rupert Clarke has been staged after the Melbourne Cup Carnival in November, but the 1400-metre race has been switched back to its traditional September timeslot for the upcoming season.
Feroce is currently back doing some pre-training and Sutton said he was able to give the son of Super Seth a good spell after his successful autumn.
“He’s down at the beach doing some pre-training. He’s doing a month down there and then he’ll come into the stable towards the end of this month,” Sutton said.
“He’s done very well.
“That’s the first time he’s had an extended, lengthy spell since we’ve had him.
“The plan was always to give him a really good spell after autumn, seeing as he only got a couple of weeks between spring and autumn.
“He seems to have come back well. He’s always been a nice, big, mature horse.
“I just had him in the stable for a few days before he went down to the beach (for pre-training) and I was happy with him.”