Tony Pike is preparing for his Queensland Winter carnival campaign and Trelawney Stud holds a strong connection to two members of his six-strong assault team.
Indecision, who races in the Trelawney silks, and Bostonian, who was born and raised on the farm for breeder-owner David Archer, both participated in exhibition gallops at the Te Rapa meeting on Saturday.
Bostonian and Indecision produced eye-catching work and will join last weekend’s Gr.2 Easter
Handicap (1600m) winner Endless Drama on a flight out of Auckland bound for Brisbane next Friday.
Pike has enjoyed plenty of success in Brisbane in recent years with the likes of Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) winner Provocative and Gr.1 J.J Atkins (1600m) winner Sacred Elixir and will look to take home some of the major spoils on offer once again in 2019.
“We’ve got a good team heading over this year although it does seem a little strange most of them are sprinters, which is unusual as the kiwi sprinters don’t often compete in Australia,” he said.
“In saying that, all have been working well and I think they are up to the competition they will face over there.
“Bostonian, Ever Loyal and Endless Drama all have the Stradbroke Handicap (Gr.1 1400m) as their main assignment and will take similar paths to get there.
“Bostonian has good residual fitness as he was only in the paddock for three weeks. He went super there as a three-year-old and he had a good hit-out on Saturday that will top him off nicely.
“He will probably go the BRC Sprint (Gr.3 1350m) at Doomben first up, as will Ever Loyal, and then we will take it from there.”
Listed Hallmark Stud Sprint (1200m) winner Indecision looked ready to go first up when completing an impressive workout in tandem with Ever Loyal on Saturday.
“Indecision will be set for some of the fillies and mares’ events during the carnival,” Pike said.
“She is flying at the moment and will be suited in Brisbane as she can handle any track surface, so if they get rain it won’t worry her.
“She worked home beautifully on Saturday, so I think she is spot on for the trip.” -NZ Racing Desk