Trainer Theresa Bateup will be looking for a strong showing out of Vain Invader at Kensington on Wednesday with next week’s Grafton Guineas on the cards.
Trainer Theresa Bateup isn’t put off by the possibility of a rain affected track when she heads to Randwick’s meeting on the Kensington track with Vain Invader.
With rain present throughout Sydney on Tuesday, Randwick’s inner track is rated in the soft range but Bateup is confident the three-year-olds versatility will hold him in good stead.
“The rain definitely won’t hinder his chances,” Bateup said.
“He went around on a Heavy 8 at Tamworth first-up last preparation and only got beat by the stablemate so a bit of rain around doesn’t worry me.
“He’s one of those versatile horses so it’s good that you don’t have to worry about what the weather is doing for him.”
The son of Invader put the writing on the wall last start at Canterbury when third to Flashing Steel and heads to Wednesday’s Benchmark 72 (1550m) in good order.
Bookies rate him as a $14 chance to salute with Group 1-winning rider Tyler Schiller in the saddle.
“All his work since Canterbury has been good and I expect him to run perform well again,” Bateup said.
“I thought he was super there and even his two runs prior to that were better than what they looked on paper, he just didn’t get a lot of room over the concluding stages.
“He’s been drawing bad gates all preparation and I thought this race was no tougher than what he faced last start.”
A forward showing will likely see Bateup head north eight days later with Vain Invader where she’s circled the $80,000 Grafton Guineas.
“We had the option of heading to the Grafton Guineas as well and rather than heading straight there but we thought this race looked suitable for him.
“If he can measure up and pulls up well then we’ll look to back him up in the Grafton Guineas.”
Earlier on the card, stablemate Gunnaheadovski make his debut off the back of four trials.
The son of Headwater has been an acceptor to run on multiple occasions but hasn’t had a race start due to drawing poor barriers.
Bateup is happy with barrier five for his first start but concedes it is a tough task.
“We’ve had no luck drawing barriers with him so he is kicking off his career in a pretty tough race,” Bateup said.
“I do think he is a nice horse for the future but he might just find it a bit too tough for him.”
– Jett Hatton
Originally published: https://www.cairnspost.com.au/sport/horse-racing/kensington-preview-vain-invader-out-to-display-grafton-guineas-credentials/news-story/d3a641967781e8658836b126a7f3571e