3 minute read
Roma Cup winner set for Group 3 and will likely face Dig Deep who resumes from a spell.
Saturday's Roma Cup (Gr 3, 1200m) winner Money Matters (Canford Cliffs) should be even better suited in the Belmont Sprint (Gr 3, 1400m) on May 29, according to jockey Joseph Azzopardi.
Azzopardi was aboard the son of Canford Cliffs (Tagula) and the jockey and feels the step up in trip in the Belmont Sprint will be even more to his liking.
The pair are building a powerful partnership this season, with Azzopardi having ridden the gelding in four races, including winning the Roma Cup and Hannans Handicap (Listed, 1400m), as well as a third placing in the Northam Mazda Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).
Speaking on TABradios's The Sports Daily on Monday morning, Azzopardi expressed his delight following the gelding's victory on Saturday.
"It was a great buzz," he said.
"The horse has a close spot with me, I've been with him for a long time so it was good to get the job done on him.
"Early he got across without much trouble at all and, the way the track was playing, I was pretty happy with where I was in the run.
"In his last two runs he's really been finding a lot on straightening.
"In the Northam Stakes they actually rolled along and he still gave a good kick and he caught me a bit off guard.
"In hindsight, I probably thought I went a little bit too early with the way he let down.
"I was mindful of that on Saturday, I didn't want to go too early and he gave a good kick again and was obviously tough to the line.
"If he keeps going the way he's going I think he'll be very hard to beat (in the Belmont Sprint) and he'll be right in the money, anyway."
Money Matters is likely to clash with Dig Deep (Deep Field) in Saturday's Group 3 and he will be resuming from a spell having not been seen since his third place finish in the Old Comrade Stakes (Listed, 1600m) at Ascot on April 2.
The son of Deep Field (Northern Meteor) showed his well-being ahead of his run in the Belmont Sprint with a third place finish behind Massimo (Sessions) in a trial over 950 metres at Lark Hill on Wednesday with William Pike on board.
"Willie was really positive about him," trainer Dan Pearce told TABradio. "He was happy with how he went through the gears. Obviously he went back and found the line.
"He's not a 1000 metre horse."
The highlight of his autumn campaign was a win in the Grandstand Cup (Listed, 1500m) on March 20, before his third placing in the Old Comrade Stakes.
Pearce said he would look at running the gelding in the Hyperion Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) and Strickland Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m), in what could be his first start beyond 1800 metres.
"I think we can work through all three," he said. "He went to the 1800 in the Kingston Town as a three-year-old. It'd be nice to get him out over a bit further.
"We will just play it by ear with him. My gut feeling is that he will get out past a mile. It'd certainly open up things for him so it'll be nice to test that theory."