After travelling approximately 2,000km from Melbourne to Rockhampton for the inaugural running of The Archer, Streets Of Avalon was unable to take his place in the $440,000 feature event due to a breathing issue caused by a virus he picked up on his travels to the Beef Capital.
Despite his star gelding missing out, trainer Shane Nichols said that he had one of the “greatest weekends” he has ever had.
“It was the most awesome place,” Nichols told HorseBetting.
“I had one of the greatest weekends I’ve ever had. Even though we didn’t run, we had a super time with the slot holders, they couldn’t have looked after us any better.
“Rocky, I’ll be back!”
We may not have started in The Archer @TheArcherRace but we partied like we won!!!! Street of Avalon
@shanenicholsrac @Racing @Racing_QLD #thankyourocky #BucketList pic.twitter.com/gURwqcOBv2
— Brooke Nichols (@brookestar02) May 7, 2022
Streets Of Avalon travelled south to Brisbane on Sunday, with the stable hopeful of starting in next month’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).
The dual Group 1 winner travelled well but was found to have an elevate temperature on Monday morning, which will mean that the stable will assess him during the week.
The original plan was to run in The Archer before tackling the Kingsford Smith Cup (1350m) and then the Stradbroke, but Nichols said the horse “definitely won’t run in the Kingsford Smith”.
“He travelled back to Brisbane yesterday and we’ll assess him during the week,” the trainer said.
“If he happened to come good quickly, he’d be a chance to go to the Straddie, but I want to talk to Racing Queensland Handicapping to see what weight he’s going to be given in the Straddie, and that would probably make the decision easier.
“If he’s gets probably 56(kg) we’d think about it, 57 we wouldn’t go.
“His temperature was slightly elevated this morning, so we had to treat him in Brisbane. When he arrived last night he was fine, but overnight he’s just got a bit of a temp again, so hopefully we’ve rectified it pretty quickly.
“He definitely won’t run in the Kingsford Smith.”
Streets Of Avalon is currently a $51 chance in the Stradbroke with online bookmakers, with weights set to be declared on May 23.
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