6 days ago
Valley hero Mornington Glory on track for Group 1 Moir Stakes defence
Group 1 winner Mornington Glory is set to resume in Saturday's meeting at The Valley and trainer Gavin Bedggood has two richer targets in mind for the short course specialist.
Mornington Glory won at the corresponding meeting at The Valley last season before progressing to win the Listed Norman Carlyon Stakes and the Group 1 Moir Stakes over 1000m at his next two runs.
Mornington Glory is one of six acceptors for the Benchmark 100 Handicap (1000m) with apprentice Luke Cartwright 's claim to leave the sprinter to 59kg, only half a kilogram more than the same race last year.
Mornington Glory missed Melbourne's major autumn sprints but showed he had benefited from the time off with an impressive Caulfield jumpout on July 30.
'He couldn't have gone any better,' Bedggood said.
'He trialled great so everything is on track.'
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The Cranbourne trainer hoped to capitalise on a lack of top class 1000m horses in the early part of the spring when tackling the Moir Stakes at weight-for-age.
'We don't want to change anything that's not broken and there looks to be a lack of genuine 1000m horses around at the moment,' Bedggood said.
'A lot of them are up and going and up at 1200m already.
'There's always the progressive three-year-old that might come through but he's got the score on the board around the track
'Hopefully we get a few dry weeks.'
Bedggood said Mornington Glory needed targets over 1000m or 1100m, making races like the Schillaci Stakes during the Caulfield Cup carnival an option.
'There's a race at Caulfield over 1100(m), the Schillaci, so I would say they were our three big targets at the moment,' Bedggood said.
'Those first two (stakes) races are the goal though, so we'll see how we go.'
