Sir Now comes up for Sir Monash
Adelaide nine-time winner tests Melbourne waters for the first time in Caulfield Group 3
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Honest Adelaide galloper Sir Now (Alysha Warren) landing the spoils at one of his nine wins in his home state. The Darryl Hewitt-trained Sir Prancealot gelding makes his first interstate visit in the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1,100m) at Caulfield on July 11.
PHOTO: SKY RACING WORLD
MELBOURNE – Adelaide galloper Sir Now will tackle Caulfield for the first time when he lines up in the A$200,000 (S$179,000) Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1,100m) on July 11.
A lack of suitable races in his home state has forced Murray Bridge-based trainer Darryl Hewitt to look to the Melbourne city track with two of his gallopers.
Consistent money spinner Sir Now heads to the Monash, while Snoopy Now runs as topweight in the Sportsbet Same Race Multi Handicap (1,700m).
Hewitt said he had been forced to look interstate, especially with Sir Now, who has been carrying big weights in races in his home state.
A winner of nine of his 24 races, with a further eight placings and over A$400,000 in prize money, the Sir Prancealot four-year-old has been weighted up to 65kg in recent outings before the claim of South Australian apprentice jockey Alysha Warren.
“He can’t race here because there are no races for him,” said Hewitt.
“He’s running around 65 kilos on his back, but he’s been pretty honest all the way through.
“Ideally you would stay in your own backyard as he’s been pretty competitive, but he deserves a chance over there.
“The track is going to be a soft five or six come Saturday, but he can handle heavy going, if it goes that way, and he comes down four-and-a-half or five kilos on his last run.”
Hewitt has booked Adelaide-based Irish jockey Connor Murtagh who will take the ride at 58.5kg. Punters have stepped in to support Sir Now, firming from 14-1 to 11-2 in early betting.
Hewitt is no stranger to Victorian racing having been based in Benalla around 20 years ago with a couple of horses – Merlot Now and Sparkling Now – who were similar types to the two horses competing at Caulfield on July 11.
Merlot Now “outgrew” Adelaide with his rating, with Hewitt saying there were not any races available, which is something that is happening again with Sir Now.
It will be Sir Now’s second trip to Melbourne having run fifth at Flemington over 1,000m on VRC Oaks Day.
“They came home pretty quick that day and we went over thinking it was going to be a wet track and it ended up being a Good 3, and he finished not far behind Rey Magnerio,” said Hewitt.
“He won’t disgrace himself over there on Saturday.”
Stablemate Snoopy Now is coming off a last-start win in a benchmark 78 race and will be ridden by in-form apprentice Jackson Radley.
Hewitt is concerned lining up against Melbourne opposition with the weight Snoopy Now has been tasked to carry, 60.6kg, which will drop to 58.5kg with Radley’s two-kilo claim.
“It’s like the SANFL (South Australian National Football League) over here, against the AFL (Australian Football League) over there, and we’re getting rated the same,” said the former Aussie Rules player of Snoopy Now, a five-time South Australian winner, who happens to be also by Sir Prancealot.
“He’s taking an 85 rating over there against other 85 rated horses that are racing against better quality week in, week out.”
SKY RACING WORLD
