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Australian Target For Squeeze

3 minute read

Hugo Palmer is looking forward to a potential trip to Australia with Short Squeeze after the three-year-old completed his hat-trick in scintillating style at Haydock on Saturday...

The Cape Cross gelding, now rated 115 by Timeform, got off the mark at the eighth attempt at Sandown in July and has not looked back, striking again at York in August before bolting up on Merseyside to ensure another steep rise in the weights.

The Darley Stakes at Newmarket on October 12 is a potential next port of call, although that Group Three event is also an option for stable companion Ascription, who missed Saturday's Cambridgeshire on account of the fast ground.

Longer-term Short Squeeze could head Down Under for next year's Toorak Handicap, a Grade One event.

Palmer said: "I've always though an enormous amount of him and I'm still staggered how I managed to get him beat seven times before he won a race, but there were excuses each time.

"Martin Dwyer gets on particularly with him and he made horses rated 100 look very slow on Saturday.

"Dubai wouldn't be impossible with him, but a couple of his owners are Australian and the plan is to run in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield in 12 months' time.

"To ask him to go to Dubai and Australia in the same year is quite tough, but at the same time there is some big prize-money on offer at Meydan, so we'll see.

"If the ground wasn't soft enough for Ascription, I could be tempted to run Short Squeeze in the Darley Stakes at Newmarket.

"Ideally I wouldn't like to run the two against each other as I like winning races and if they do meet then both of them can't win, but if they were trained by two different trainers they probably would be running in the same races.

"I've never worked them together and I don't know which is better. It's really exciting to have the two of them.