Image: Steve Hart
An encouraging run behind a promising colt has Sovereign Hill with his hoof on the till.
One-time Golden Gift favourite Sovereign Hill has been a lesson in patience for connections and they are hoping to be rewarded with a Saturday metropolitan victory at Rosehill.
The Written Tycoon colt set a class record when he took out one of the first two-year-old races of the season at Warwick Farm and co-trainer Adrian Bott quickly declared the stable’s intention to tackle bigger goals.
However, those plans didn’t come to fruition as setbacks ruled Sovereign Hill out of the Golden Gift and stymied attempts to get him to the Inglis Millennium.
“He went shin sore a few times and we had to bide our time,” Bott said prior to Sovereign Hill’s first-up run.
“It has been frustrating because he has shown ability.
“After that first race, he went to Golden Gift favourite and we had to tip him out, then he came back and was favourite for one of the Inglis races and we had to tip him out again.”
Sovereign Hill struggled on the heavy ground first-up when seventh to Pisces at Newcastle, but he rebounded on a better surface to beat all but the promising Emirate over 1300m at Rosehill.
The horse who finished third, Mr Artemisia, is on the third line of betting for Saturday’s Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) in Brisbane so Bott is expecting the form to stack up.
“He appreciated getting out in trip and he was just beaten by a better horse on the day,” Bott said of the Rosehill effort.
“That winner looks to be very promising, so I would expect that form to stand up out of that race and if that’s the case, he looks to have trained on nicely, or certainly maintained his form.
“I’d like to think the 1400 is ideal for him and he’ll be very competitive.
“It’s an important race for him to back up the opinion we’ve had of him. We haven’t set anything too high yet, we will see what Saturday brings and where he can be placed off the back of that.”
Adam Hyeronimus partnered Sovereign Hill to his debut success and will be out to make it two wins from as many rides when he reunites with him at Rosehill.
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