School is in recess for the world’s top ranked sprinter, Chautauqua, that has returned to the barn after his easy win in the 1200 m Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint prize at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin racecourse back in May.
He has now been sprung from quarantines in Hong Kong and Melbourne and turned loose to roam the pastoral pastures of his John/Wayne/Michael Hawkes trainer triumvirate. He will spend the next several weeks leisurely doing whatever it is horses like to do whilst on holiday, and then he will begin preparations for racing in the Group 1 A.J. Moir Stakes, also known of late as the Schweppes Stakes at Melbourne’s Moonee Valley racecourse in late September.
Subsequently, he will attempt the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee before running in the Group 1 Darley Classic at Flemington. Beyond that, Japan may be on his itinerary in a quest for the big bonus money he could earn by completing the Global Sprint Challenge Series with a win in the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama racecourse.
If he were to win the Manikato Stakes, it would be his third victory and he would be attempting to win his third T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick when the autumn season comes around.
