Mornington trainer Matt Laurie has booked champion Sydney jockey Kerrin McEvoy to ride his boom colt Coleman in the $750,000 Group One Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on September 7.
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Laurie told ACM Racing he was delighted to secure McEvoy to ride the rising three-year-old, weeks out from the Moir Stakes.
"We've locked Kerrin away for the ride and I'm over the moon," Laurie said.
"I'm glad we've ticked that box. Kerrin rode Coleman when he was narrowly beaten in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill in March. Kerrin has a huge opinion of Coleman following his Golden Slipper second placing. We've got some nice young horses in the stable going forward but Coleman is our headline performer for the spring on the back of his minor placings in Sydney's Pago Pago Stakes, Golden Slipper and Sires Produce. We're using the Moir as the launching pad for Coleman's spring campaign. Coleman will then line up in the $2 million Group One Manikato Stakes around the Valley on September 27 before going up to Sydney for some of the rich sprint races there."
Laurie, who has 40 horses in work at his Mornington stables said Coleman would have trials at Mornington on August 7 and Caulfield on August 21 before his Moir Stakes run.
"We're chasing a Group One win with Coleman," he said. "A Group One win would really enhance his value as a future stallion. He has run second in two Group One races namely the Golden Slipper and Sires Produce but a Group One win would be a massive boost to his stallion credentials."
Coleman, a $550,000 purchase by Laurie at the 2023 Magic Millions Yearling Sales on the Gold Coast, has won two of his six starts and finished in the minor placegetters stall on three occasions. He has earnt over $1.1million in stakemoney for his connections.
Laurie saddles up lightly raced gallopers Waiting For Time and Harry Got Styles on Saturday's nine-race Caulfield program.
Waiting For Time, a last start two-year-old winner at Pakenham lines up in the last metropolitan two-year-old race for the 2023-24 season.
"We're lifting the bar with Waiting For Time," Laurie said.
"He scored a strong win on July 18 at Pakenham. I don't like backing my horses up too quick but in this case I've changed my mind. His maiden win might be better than it looked because he ran the quickest time for the maidens on that day. Waiting For Time has done really well since the Pakenham win. He worked over 400m on the grass track at Mornington on Wednesday morning and I was really happy with his work. Saturday's race is the last two-year-old race for the season so I thought we would have a throw at the stumps. Waiting For Time is a progressive type of horse and I think with a bit of time he might develop into a nice horse. Waiting For Time is one of a few horses we have in the stable for Yulong. They stand his sire Alabama Express who has had a fantastic season as a first year sire. I think there been 12 individual winners by him including Waiting For Time. Yulong have been great supporters of our stable and it would be great if we could get another winner for them."
Bet365 have Waiting For Time as a $7.50 chance for the $150,000 race.
Harry Got Styles resumes in $150,000 three-year-old race, after a couple of months break following three nice runs in his last preparation.
"Harry Got Styles has shown a ton of ability at his three starts," Laurie said. "From day one he's shown us a lot of potential. His maiden win at Cranbourne in April was full of merit after a couple of nice trials. Harry Got Styles was just beaten at Bendigo at his second start and then he was unplaced at Flemington but he ran well. He pulled up with a slight issue after Flemington so we gave him a nice break. He's had two jump-outs this time in work and has impressived in both of those. We're going to the races confident he should run well in a very even field."
Harry Got Styles is a $10 hope in the early betting markets.
Caulfield's feature race on Saturday, the $200,000 Group Three Bletchingly Stakes, has only attracted seven runners. Champion trainer Ciaron Maher saddles up hot favourite Recommendations and second favourite Mrs Chrissie in the 1200m contest. Bet365 rates Recommendation a $1.50 chance in the early betting markets while the New Zealand-bred Mrs Chrissie is a $5 chance.
