Barakey Back In Winterbottom Contention
- Wednesday, 09 November 2011 05:20
Winterbottom Stakes favourite Barakey will be monitored over the next few days before trainer Jim Taylor confirms a start in Saturday week's Group One sprint in Perth.
Taylor was going to bypass the $500,000 Winterbottom (1200m) with Barakey due to the expected presence of champion mare Black Caviar.
But with the Peter Moody-trained drawcard ruled out on Monday, the weight-for-age contest is now back on the table for Perth's latest boom sprinter.
"It would have been easier if Black Caviar came because it would have made the decision a lot easier," Taylor told Sydney's Sky Sports Radio on Tuesday.
"I would have said, `right, go to the paddock'.
"Obviously it (the Winterbottom) is very tempting at this stage, but I'm very mindful that it's his first preparation."
Barakey is unbeaten in six starts with his most recent success a two-length victory over 1200m at Ascot on Saturday.
"At this stage we're going on but I'm just going to monitor how he feels this week," Taylor said.
Taylor wants to make sure the four-year-old is 100 per cent before confirming a Winterbottom start.
He said the son of Key Business had come through Saturday's win in sound order.
"He's pretty well in himself and just had a light trot this morning," Taylor said.
"He had a couple of days off after the race. When he does a bit more serious work in the next couple of days I'll get a good feel of where we are at."
Barakey is the $2.30 favourite on TAB Sportsbet with the 2009 winner Ortensia next in line at $3 following her first-up win during the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Ortensia is booked on a Melbourne to Perth flight on Tuesday night.
Taylor, who prepared Hay List to eight wins in nine Perth starts before he was transferred to NSW trainer John McNair, is planning a Melbourne campaign with Barakey in the autumn.
