Metropolitan goal for Derby winner

[Wandering Eyes]

The Gr.1 Metropolitan (2400m) will be the short-term target for emerging stayer Major Beel (NZ) (Savabeel).

Adrian Bott isn’t expecting a winning return from Major Beel in the Gr.1 Winx Stakes (1400m), but he is expecting the Gr.1 ATC Australian Derby (2400m) victor to run better than his double-figure odds suggest. 

The gelding was competitive over similar journeys at his initial campaigns, albeit in much easier races, but he did claim the scalp of subsequent Stradbroke Handicap placegetter Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible) first-up over 1300m in February. 

“He’s probably a little bit sharper than just a Derby winner, the way he has come back and the way he has trialled,” Bott said. 

“Obviously it’s a big task ahead of him, even just going from three-year-old company to weight-for-age, let alone the Derby being your Group One victory (and going) to a weight-for-age, 1400 against some specialist horses. 

“But I feel there has been some good improvement off the back of what we’ve seen at three.” 

Major Beel was an upset winner of the Derby at $31 and will start similar odds in Saturday’s Winx Stakes (1400m). 

However, he has managed a top-three finish in nine of his 11 starts and Bott and training partner Gai Waterhouse are keen to initially aim him towards The Metropolitan on September 30. 

The path he takes towards that feature will hinge on how he handles his first weight-for-age test. 

“We’ll get a good line on this preparation, it’s a nice kick-off point,” Bott said. 

“We’d like to get him through a Metropolitan-Caulfield Cup type of campaign with the view he will appreciate getting back out in trip.” 

He is the first foal of the unraced O’Reilly mare Gram (NZ) – a daughter of the Gr.2 Karakatta Plate (1200m) winner Gold Rocks (Oratorio), whose daughters Gold Fever (NZ) (Savabeel) and Gold Rush (NZ) (So You Think) both won the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) for two-year-old fillies. Calaverite (Lonhro) was successful at Listed level as a juvenile in the Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) and St Albans Stakes (1200m), and she is the dam of Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner Golden Mile (Astern).

Major Beel was purchased out of Waikato Stud’s draft at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale for A$260,000 by Waterhouse, Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds, with the Matamata farm remaining in the ownership.

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