One-time Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) favourite Surprise Baby (NZ) (Shocking) has been sent to the spelling paddock following his ninth placed run in the Gr.3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last month.
The son of Shocking hadn’t raced since the Melbourne Cup last year.
Trainer Gavin Bedggood was initially disappointed with his returning run, but on reflection he was less critical of the performance.
“Watching it I was gutted,” Bedggood told Racing.com. “But looking at the sectionals he’s gone as good as he could.
“He just got gassed. He would have had to run 10’s (10-second sectionals) the whole way to beat them.
“The leaders went out hard and they didn’t stop really.”
It was Surprise Baby’s first run for Bedggood who said he now has a better idea of how he will set his horse after a short spell.
“I learnt a lot about the horse,” Bedggood said.
“At Caulfield over 1400m they probably rarely come up for air and I will probably look to avoid anything short of a mile.
“He pulled up well and we will give him a few weeks off now.
“He will be back before Christmas, but a break will do him the world of good, he has been up a while as he did a lot of rehabilitation work before he came to me.”
Surprise Baby was purchased as an unraced three-year-old for just $5500 from online auction platform gavelhouse.com, with owner John Fiteni sourcing him sight-unseen from Rich Hill Stud, breeders of memorable 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Prince of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire).
