Talented stallion Dawn Passage pleased co-trainer Adrian Bott enough on Tuesday for him to declare the 2020 Golden Eagle (1500m) a reasonable target race this spring.
Dawn Passage was last seen in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap in June, when he drew a wide gate and was beaten as the $4.20 favourite.
The son of Dawn Approach returned to the track on Tuesday morning at Rosehill in a barrier trial, with co-trainer Adrian Bott positive about the order he has returned in.
“It was a good trial from him,” Bott, who trains in partnership with Gai Waterhouse, said. “Very pleasing.
“He even surprised me with the gate speed he showed.
“He’s still got a lot of improvement coming out of that today.
“He’s on a Golden Eagle path. The scheduling is going to be a little bit tight getting him there.”
Bott suggested that Dawn Passage would have another trial, before resuming in the 2020 Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick on October 10th.
Dawn Passage was one of the breakout three-year-olds in the autumn, where he strung together a hattrick of wins, including the Group 3 Hawkesbury Guineas.
Watch: Dawn Passage take out the Hawkesbury Guineas in impressive fashion.
Dawn Passage gaps them in the Hawkesbury Guineas and wins by three lengths for @GaiWaterhouse1 and Adrian Bott
Was also @DufficyRon Best Bet of the day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Hkjh8QsR0a
— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 25, 2020
“He kicked off in the right manner, was explosive on debut then didn’t get the right conditions in the Inglis Millennium at his second start but look back and he was beaten by a horse called Castelvecchio,” he said.
“He still wasn’t quite seasoned enough in his spring three-year-old season but after winning the Rosebud he wasn’t beaten that far in the Golden Rose behind horses like Bivouac, Yes Yes Yes and Exceedance.
“In the autumn, everything started coming together for him.
“He developed further mentally and tactically he added a few more strings to his bow and was able to race a bit more prominently and still show that same turn of foot.
“It just takes a bit of racing for some horses and he’s been that type of horse.”
Dawn Passage is a $26 chance for the 2020 Golden Eagle.
