Star hoop Blake Shinn has been booked to ride promising young colt Hinchinbrook for his Melbourne Spring Carnival campaign this year.

Shinn, freed from his contract with the Gai Waterhouse stables at the start of the year, is now enjoying being a free agent.

Securing the mounts on Hinchinbrook for the spring is part of a successful union Shinn has developed with Rosehill-based trainer Gerald Ryan.

Hinchinbrook showed great potential at the start of the year, his last start a gallant third to Yosei in the AJC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 10.

The talented two-year-old Fastnet Rock colt is preparing for the spring and will return to the track on Tuesday in a barrier trial, one of 12 heats programmed at Rosehill on the day.

Ryan has named the Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill Racecourse on August 14 as Hinchinbrook’s first spring start.

His performance there will determine whether connections will press on to the Golden Rose (1400m) on August 28, which is the first Group 1 race of the season.

Another galloper from Gerald Ryan’s Sydney stables ready to start their spring campaign is three-year-old colt Rothesay.

Coming off back-to-back wins in Queensland including their Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) victory at Eagle Farm, Rothesay will also be ridden by Shinn during the spring with his first-up run scheduled for September 11 in the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill.

Don’t bet on the spring races – not until you sign up at [sportsbet] so you know you are getting the best odds and highest returns. Become a [sportsbet] customer today and receive a free $100 bet!