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Hickman sounds Gold Edition warning to rivals

15 December 2017

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By Glenn Davis

Sydney colt Pierata doesn’t need to improve on his dominant Winning Rupert Plate victory two weeks ago to claim the Listed Gold Edition Stakes at Doomben on Saturday.

That’s the prediction from the colt’s Warwick Farm trainer Greg Hickman.

“He doesn’t need to improve after that win. He just needs to reproduce it,” Hickman said.

Pierata was ridden by Sydney’s Corey Brown when he downed local three-year-old Bring It Home Pop by almost three lengths in the Winning Rupert Plate at Doomben on December 2.

It was the Pierro colt’s first start since the Brisbane winter carnival where he placed on a heavy track in the Group 2 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm before finishing midfield behind Capital Gain in the Group 1 J J Atkins (1600m) at Doomben.

“He got badly stripped behind in the Sires’ Produce but still ran a great race to finish third,” Hickman said.

“Then in the J J Atkins he had a bad alley and got knocked down a couple of times and was only beaten about two lengths.”

Hickman, who has around 20 horses in work at Warwick Farm, took the rare step of spelling Pierata in Queensland following his winter campaign.

“I sent him to Greg Bennett who does a great job looking after horses,” he said.

Hickman fielded several offers to buy Pierata early in his career but all were rejected.

“We had a few offers for him early on but we knew if he could win four straight he’d collect around $1.5 million in prizemoney plus bonuses up here,” he said.

Pierata’s win in the Winning Rupert put him in contention for the three-year-old Summer Crown bonus.

If successful in the Gold Edition, Pierata will need one more win in either the Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate (1600m) at Doomben on December 30 or Magic Million Guineas (1400m) at the Gold Coast on January 13 to claim a $500,000 Summer Crown bonus.

“We’ll get this race out of the way first before looking at the other legs,” Hickman said.

“The plan all along was to go on to the Vo Rogue and the Magic Millions but if he doesn’t have to run in both to get the bonus then he won’t.”

Racing Queensland webnews   December 15