Australia considered for leading sprinter

[Wandering Eyes]

Plans for Babylon Berlin are yet to be locked in, but a trip to Australia is high on the wish list for the top-quality sprinter.

The multiple Group-winning daughter of All Too Hard hasn’t raced since she finished out of the money in the Gr.1 Railway (1200m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day, after which she underwent a wind operation.

The Ben and Ryan Foote-trained mare, who is tentatively booked to cross the Tasman later this month, took a pleasing step toward a return to competition on Tuesday when she was untouched to win her open heat over 850m at the Te Awamutu trials.

“I was pretty certain that everything was back to normal, so I expected that,” said Ben Foote, who shares in the ownership of the six-year-old.

“It was a bit of a relief of course, but I certainly thought she was back to her old self. She just stretched her legs for the last 100m or so and had a good blow.”

Babylon Berlin showed her customary gate speed to make the running and lengthened stride the run home for rider Courtney Barnes to coast home by four and a-half lengths.

“I’m not sure if she will have another trial or race here before she goes to Australia,” Foote said.

“She has got a booking on the flight to Brisbane on May 25 so we might go there, but nothing has been set in stone just yet.”

Babylon Berlin has won eight of her 27 starts, including Group Three successes in the Concorde Handicap (1200m), King’s Plate (1200m) and Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and a brace of Listed wins.

The only missing credit on her resume is a Group One victory after placings at the top level in the Telegraph (1200m), twice in the Railway (1200m) and BCD Sprint (1400m).

Meanwhile, Babylon Berlin’s progressive stablemate The Odyssey is still on a break after a lucrative spring and summer campaign.

The Zacinto four-year-old broke his maiden at Rotorua in October and added two wins at Te Rapa before success in the inaugural $350,000 Remutaka Classic (2100m) at Trentham.

“He will be back in work in two weeks, I didn’t want to bring him up too early,” Foote said.

“He was always a horse that was going to take a bit of time, his mum (Macavelli Miss) won the Thorndon (Gr.1, 1600m) as a five-year-old.

“We’ve got a few targets in the spring for him, the Counties Cup (Gr.3, 2100m), Wanganui Cup (Listed, 2040m), Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m), Manawatu Cup (Gr.3, 2300m) are some of the races we can try and get him in with lighter weights.

“It depends how he comes up, we could also look at the Livamol (Gr.1, 2040m) but he’s a long way from that yet but you never know.”

The Odyssey’s stake earnings of more than $240,000 from nine starts is also a welcome reflection of the increased stake money that has been injected into the industry.

“One thing I’ve never really worried about is the trainers’ percentage every fortnight, but now it makes a difference and certainly a lot better than any time during my career,” Foote said. 

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