Moroney stayer fresh for Australian Cup shot

[Chief Stipe]

Transtasman trainer Mike Moroney will learn a little more about German import Sound when he makes his autumn return in the Australian Cup.

Sound, who came to Australia last spring as Sound Check and was unplaced in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, runs first-up in Saturday’s Group One weight-for-age race over 2000 metres at Flemington.

Moroney said there were limited options to start Sound’s campaign and he did not want to burden him with 66 kilograms in Sunday’s Stony Creek Cup (2100m).

“We need to get him going to head towards Sydney, so there was only this race and the Stony Creek Cup and I’d rather keep him here closer to home,” Moroney said.

“He got a big weight there and would have to give away plenty of weight, plus I didn’t want to be giving him a trip away from home with a trip to Sydney coming as well.”

Moroney said Sound seemed in good order but he was unsure how competitive the stayer would be first-up. Sound works on his own and Moroney says it is hard to gauge how he is coming along and he will get a better idea of his progress after Saturday.

Moroney has Sound aimed towards the Tancred Stakes at Rosehill on March 30 and the following month’s Sydney Cup at Randwick.

“We’re learning more about him,” Moroney said. “He’s come back and looks great and in good order. He’s a horse we work by himself, not in company, so he is hard to get a line on, but he’s a real stayer and does things like a stayer.

“We’re also thinking a little bit of give in the ground, if we get to Sydney, would be ideal for him as well.”

Moroney said Sound’s two spring runs when 12th in the Caulfield Cup and 18th in the Melbourne Cup, were inconclusive.

“He didn’t run up to his best in the spring, which might have suggested he’d come to the end of it when we got him, rather than being on the way up,” Moroney said.

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