Trainer Darren Weir will set Black Heart Bart on a Group 1 mission after the former West Australian trained five year old returned to the winner’s stall in the Group 3 $150,000 Victoria Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield today.

Black Heart Bart has already shown that he is up to Group 1 standard with an eye catching second at his his previous start to The Quarterback in the Group 1 $1.25m Lexus Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on March 12.

The Group 1 $500,000 Darley Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on May 21 is high on the agenda after Black Heart Bart ran fourth in it last year and another trip to Queensland for the Group 1 $2m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 11 is also on the radar.

“We’ll have to put a bit of thought into where we go now – whether we keep pushing out in distance or keep freshening up,” Weir said.

“Obviously Queensland is in the back of our mind … how we get there, I’m not sure.

“He ran really well in The Goodwood last year as well, so the owners are keen to head that way, but they’ve left it up to us.”

“But he’s held his form – he ran great in the Newmarket and he ran well again today.”

Weir had intended to wait and run Black Heart Bart in the Goodwood, but his staff at Warrnambool told him he was ready to go and needed a run beforehand.

“The credit has got to go to the boys down at Warrnambool because they talked me into running him – I wasn’t that keen,” Weir said.

“I was going to wait for The Goodwood but they said ‘he’s that well, you should be looking for a race sooner’.

Brad Rawiller settled Black Heart Bart ($2.50 favourite) in the second half of the field and brought him with a well timed to collar the leader Charmed Harmony ($12) close to the line to score buy a long neck with Eclair Choice ($20) running an improved race to finish third.

“We got a lovely run, but we looked to be in a bit of trouble on the corner but once Brad got into him and got him balanced up, he really powered to the line,” Weir said.

Victoria Handicap Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	1	BLACK HEART BART	Darren Weir	Brad Rawiller	–	7	58.5kg	$2.50F
2	3	CHARMED HARMONY	John Sadler	Thomas Sadler (a)	0.3L	3	57kg	$12
3	2	ECLAIR CHOICE	Phillip Stokes	Dom Tourneur	1.05L	1	57.5kg	$20
4	10	JIMANDO	Tony McEvoy	Stephen Baster	2.05L	8	54kg	$20
5	11	YESTERDAY’S SONGS	Michael Moroney	James Winks	2.8L	10	54kg	$12
6	15	LUCKY LAGO	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Glen Boss	3.55L	5	54kg	$26
7	13	ZEBRINZ	Leon & Troy Corstens	Patrick Moloney	3.65L	4	54kg	$12
8	9	CORONATION SHALLAN	Brett Scott	Daniel Stackhouse	3.75L	2	54kg	$20
9	12	PETROLOGY	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Regan Bayliss (a)	5L	13	54kg	$61
10	5	SERTORIUS	Jamie Edwards	Chris Symons	5.75L	14	55kg	$71
11	4	RED BOMBER	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Nicholas Hall	6.25L	11	57kg	$13
12	7	DESERT JEUNEY	Nigel Blackiston	Luke Currie	7L	12	54kg	$61
13	8	GUEST OF HONOUR (IRE)	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Harry Coffey (a)	8L	6	54kg	$31
14	6	TRIED AND TIRED	Leon & Troy Corstens	Mark Zahra	8.1L	9	55kg (cd 55.5kg)	$4.80