Clinton McDonald has set his sights on lucrative sprint races for Angel Capital during the colt’s three-year-old autumn campaign.
Last seen finishing sixth in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) in October, Angel Capital returned to action with a jump-out at Cranbourne on Monday, where he finished midfield.
A second jump-out is scheduled for January 27, after which McDonald will decide on his first-up target, with the Rubiton Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on February 8 being the likely option.
“We’re thinking of keeping him to sprint trips at this stage,” McDonald told RSN.
“We could go to the Rubiton over 1100 (metres), and depending on how he goes, we could go to the $1 million Inglis 3YO down the straight (at Flemington).
“If he won the Rubiton really well, then we could look at races like the Oakleigh Plate or the Newmarket Handicap.
“It will all depend on how well he’s going, and which rein we will pull with him.”
Unbeaten when fresh, Angel Capital impressed with a debut win at Cranbourne in April and followed up with a Listed victory in the McKenzie Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley in September.
“I think a high-speed sprint trip, and if he can get the right run and a drag into a race, he could be lethal over the last 400 metres,” McDonald added.
“He’s a powerful colt and he has come back stronger. We feel he’s a Group 1 horse, but we have to place him right to get that result.”
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