There are just five remaining runners in Saturday’s San Domenico Stakes 2019 field at Rosehill Gardens following the latest scratching of the Chris Waller-trained Yes Yes Yes.
Yes Yes Yes (pictures) avoids a clash with Bivouac in the 2019 San Domenico Stakes on Saturday going straight to the Run To The Rose. Photo: Steve Hart.
Two three-year-olds have been officially scratched from the already diminutive line-up for this year’s Group 3 $160,000 San Domenico Stakes (1100m).
Subsequently the price on odds-on favourite Bivouac has firmed into $1.30 through Ladbrokes.com.au in San Domenico Stakes betting.
Waller opted on Friday afternoon to take out his Rubick colt Yes Yes Yes from the set weights plus penalties clash.
He is saving the Coolmore-raced Group 2 Todman Stakes winner for a first-up run on September 14 in the Group 2 $200,000 The Run To The Rose (1200m).
Waller’s racing manager Charlie Duckworth explained to Racing NSW the decision had a lot to do with the Heavy (9) Rosehill track this Saturday.
“While it is only a small field it’s going to be a very testing track,’’ Duckworth said.
“So the real question with him is whether he needs to be racing over this distance on this track condition. Does he need to have a gut buster at the start of what is going to be a huge spring for him?
“It was our original plan to start off his preparation in two weeks’ time over 1200m which is probably a more suitable journey for him.’’
Duckworth added the team were thrilled with the progress of Yes Yes Yes since the youngster’s seventh on ah Heavy (8) Rosehill track behind Kiamichi in the Group 1 $3.5 million Golden Slipper (1200m).
“He’s come back this preparation in good order, his trial the other day was very good up against hardened older sprinters,” he said.
Yes Yes Yes (3), who remains a potential runner in the $14 million The Everest for slot-holders Coolmore, joined Dubious (7) in the San Domenico Stakes scratchings.
The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Not A Single Doubt colt Dubious races in Melbourne’s Group 3 $160,000 H.D.F. McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Memsie Stakes Day this Saturday instead.
Dubious ran a first-up fourth behind Bivouac in the Vain Stakes on Soft going and will have blinkers re-applied for his second-up Caulfield run this weekend with the stable looking to avoid rain-affected tracks over the spring.
“You could see in the straight he just wasn’t happy with that give in the track,” co-trainer Maher said.
“So hopefully he gets a better surface.”
The lack of rivals has Godolphin’s James Cummings bursting with confidence heading into the San Domenico Stakes with the flying Bivouac.
A winner of three of his six starts to date, the Exceed And Excel colt also leads futures betting on the Group 1 $1 million Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) on September 28.
Bivouac saluted by two lengths at Randwick back in April’s Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) after a fourth to Yes Yes Yes in the Todman the month prior.
He franked that form first-up at Caulfield on August 17 running away for a 4.25 length win in the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) fresh.
Jockey Hugh Bowman rode Bivouac for that impressive victory and has opted to stay in Sydney, turning up a Group 1 Memsie Stakes ride, to stay in the saddle of the three-year-old second-up in the San Domenico.
“Bivouac has been held together since a scintillating first-up performance in the Vain Stakes against a small but solid bunch of horses first-up at Caulfield,” Cummings said of the San Domenico favourite.
“He’s a very athletic horse who hasn’t needed to do too much between runs and it will be important for him to maintain his consistency in his performances and cope with the challenge of travelling between states midway through his campaign.”
The San Domenico Stakes 2019 odds are now updated at Ladbrokes.com.au ahead of the race jumping at 2:30pm (AEST) on Saturday.
