Aberfeldie Boy ridden by Craig Newitt wins the Bridgestone Select Pakenham Maiden Plate at Sportsbet Pakenham on April 13, 2023 in Pakenham, Australia. (Morgan Hancock/Racing Photos)
As he starts to get rolling, a minor setback seems to always interferes with the progress of the Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock-trained Aberfeldie Boy.
The gelding returns from his most recent hiccup in the RDA Daylesford Lesley Hewitt Trophy (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Aberfeldie Boy had his last campaign halted by a bruised heel after finishing fourth in the Group 3 Easter Cup (2000m) at Caulfield in April, just as they were looking to building on that run.
The Group 3 The Andrew Ramsden (2800m) at Flemington last month with a potential trip to Queensland for the Group 2 Brisbane Cup (3200m) on Saturday week had been in the pipeline for the gelding.
Instead, Aberfeldie Boy will remain in Melbourne for the winter and contest the Banjo Patterson Series for the older stayers with the potential of contesting the Deane Lester Flemington Cup 1849 (2800m) at Flemington on July 20.
“He will need the run a little bit on Saturday, but he’s got good strong stamina so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for him,” de Kock said.
“His Easter Cup run was excellent and it’s a pity we couldn’t build on that, but hopefully we’ll get back to that.
“We had a bruised heel which put him out of work for a little bit. He’s a bit rusty, for sure, but I think getting him Flemington will help him.
“We’ll try and follow the Banjo Patterson Series and then maybe get him to the Deane Lester and then freshen him up for the spring.”
Aberfeldie Boy has only one win from 12 starts to his credit but has an abundance of staying promise having run third in the Victoria Derby and South Australian Derby as a three-year-old.
Longterm Griffiths and de Kock would like to see Aberfeldie Boy line up in the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.
The best way for Aberfeldie Boy to guarantee a start would be to win one of the ‘Golden Ticket’ races, either Group 2 Hotham Handicap (2500m) in September or the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2500m) the following month.
“If he can get one of the ‘Golden Tickets’ in the spring, that would be ideal,” de Kock said.
“We’ve been patient with him, so hopefully it pays off.”