By Glenn Davis
Trainer Matt Dunn will weigh up all options for exciting staying prospect Divine Unicorn following his convincing win in the Tattersall’s Cup at Doomben on Saturday.
Ridden by Jim Byrne, Divine Unicorn powered home to down Ipswich Cup winner Tradesman by 1-1/4 lengths in the 2200-metre Group 3 feature.
Divine Unicorn, who was originally bought to race in Hong Kong, was stepping up to a middle distance for the first time at only his eighth start which Dunn conceded made him feel nervous.
“He’s had a quantum leap this preparation and I was a little nervous going 1600 metres to 2200 metres,” Dunn said.
“He’s a stayer with a massive future.
“I’m not sure where he’ll end up, he could end up anywhere.”
Dunn is unsure whether to spell Divine Unicorn and aim for the spring or target the Grafton Cup next month.
“The Grafton Cup is a possibility but I’m not sure if we need to take on that yet,” he said.
“We might give him a break and aim for the spring.”
Meanwhile a change of gear proved a master stroke from trainer Peter Snowden when Grande Rosso won the Listed Mumm Stakes (1600m).
Snowden has targeted the Mumm Stakes with Grande Rosso for some time but was forced to remove blinkers after the six-year-old’s last start failure at Rosehill.
“He’s been looking for 1600 metres and it was a great patient ride from Kerrin (McEvoy),” Snowden said.
“This was the race I had picked out for some time and taking the blinkers off helped him relax.”
Snowden said Grande Rosso might head to the Grafton carnival next month if he gets the right track conditions.
“It won’t be hard to find a suitable race for him now and there’s some nice races coming up including Grafton,” he said.
“But I want to dodge any wet tracks.”
Earlier promising Kiwi three-year-old The Bostonian will back-up in next week’s Group 3 Sunshine Coast Guineas following his dominant performance in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Plate (1350m).
Ridden by Michael Cahill off a wide gate, The Bostonian jumped straight to the front to lead all the way for a 1-3/4 length win over Chapter And Verse.
“I’m fortunate to be able to ride him as he could be a serious horse,” Cahill said.
The Bostonian has had a disrupted winter campaign but underlined his ability winning the Listed Daybreak Lover at the Sunshine Coast two weeks ago.
Trainer Tony Pike had an open mind what to target during the winter carnival after The Bostonian was beaten into sixth place in the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas at Riccarton in November.
“He had six or seven weeks off because of wide draws and then a spider bite but I came here with an open mind,” Pike said.
“He had no luck in the Guineas when he was almost put through the running rail.
“He’ll go to the Sunshine Coast Guineas next and then he’ll go home.”
Racing Queensland webnews June 23