For a young trainer, Matthew Brown seems to have his head screwed on the right way.
After a Group Two win with Prix De Turn (NZ) (Turn Me Loose) as a three-year-old, the temptation would be to aim high as a spring four-year-old and target races like the Caufield Cup, the Melbourne Cup or the Cox Plate.
But Brown has his sights set on the Gr.1 The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick in October, providing Prix De Turn’s form warrants the trip.
After a luckless first-up run at Moonee Valley last month, Prix De Turn returns to the track on Saturday to run in the Chandler Macleod Handicap (2040m), the same course and trip the entire was successful over in the Alister Clark Stakes in March.
Prix De Turn was turned out for a break following the Alister Clark win and on resumption finished fourth behind Jimmy The Bear over 1600m.
“It was a pretty tough watch, but we got what we wanted to see, and he was brilliant through the line,” Brown said.
“Nothing went right, and he arguably could have finished a bit closer, but it was a beautiful kick-off for him and we’re getting him straight out to the 2000 metres.”
Brown took Prix De Turn to The Valley on Tuesday morning where jockey Craig Williams, who has the ride on Saturday, sat on the entire for the first time.
He said Williams reported that Prix De Turn had handled the rain-affected ground and that he was pleased with the feel the entire gave him in the workout.
Decision time will come following Saturday’s run.
Brown said he would have to weigh-up whether to give Prix De Turn another start or trial before heading to the Group 3 JRA Cup (2040m) at The Valley on September 23.
“We’ll probably go to the JRA Cup and depending on form and how he’s going, The Metropolitan is where we’d love to be,” Brown said.
“We’ve still got a long way to go to get to there, but we’ll get that underway on Saturday.”
