Trainer
Noel Doyle concedes Celtic Dancer's beefy waistline and the current dry spell are two concernimg factors against the five-year-old making a winning return at Doomben on
Saturday.
Celtic
Dancer will have his first start since his G1 Stradbroke Handicap failure at
Eagle Farm in June when he lines up in the Dpma Handicap (1200m).
Celtic Dancer tailed off last behind the Peter Moody-trained Mid Summer Music
in the Stradbroke Handicap, a week after his brilliant win in the G2 QTC Cup
(1300m) on a heavy track at Eagle Farm.
"In
hindsight, I probably should never have started him in the Stradbroke,"
Doyle said.
"He's
a wet-tracker and he won the QTC Cup brilliantly in the wet but the rain never
stayed around for the Stradbroke.
"When
the rain didn't come back I should have saved him for the (Listed) Eye Liner Stakes
at Ipswich but the Stradbroke is a $1 million race and those sort of chances don't come along every day."
Doyle has
given Celtic Dancer three barrier trials on his home track at the Gold Coast to
prepare for his first-up assignment.
"I've
got to start him off somewhere and this looked the best race for him going into
the warmer months," Doyle said.
"He's
coming along very well but he probably did too well when he was out in the
paddock.
"He
came back from his break as big as a house and it's taken him a while to trim down.
"He's
a wet-tracker but there doesn't look to be any rain around for him at the
moment.
"Whatever he does on Saturday he's going to improve a lot."
Doyle is likely
to aim Celtic Dancer for the summer sprint series but hasn't ruled out a shot
at the Brisbane Handicap or Recognition Stakes along the way.
The Listed
Brisbane Handicap (1600m) will be run at
Eagle Farm on November 17 with the Listed Recognition Stakes (1600m) on the
same track, a fortnight later.
"I'll
probably aim him for the summer sprint races but I won't be afraid to try him
over 1600 metres beforehand, especially if it's wet," Doyle said.
"I'll
run him anywhere if it's wet."
Celtic Dancer,
who has won almost $500,000 is prizemoney during his career, has won up to 1500
metres as a three-year-old.
At his only
attempt over 1600 metres, Celtic Dancer led and weakened to finish eighth to
Torio's Quest in the G2 Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm last year.
"He's
a lot more mature and as he's now a five-year-old I think he can run a
mile," Doyle said.
Racing Queensland webnews October 25
Photo: Trackside Photography
