RACEHORSE Sons of John confirmed on the weekend the feelings of everyone involved with his training — that he is a genuine group 1 contender.
Trained by Hawkesbury’s Jason Attard, Sons of John placed in the Epsom Handicap at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
The handicap is one of the premier races run over 1600 metres in Australia.
Sons of John was edged out of second place by the nose of Gai Waterhouse’s Ecuador.
Attard said there was no way his five-year-old gelding could have beaten Chris Waller’s Winx, the race winner, on Saturday.
‘‘We had the widest barrier. I dare say if we drew a decent barrier we still couldn’t have beat the winner but we would have run a clear second for sure,’’ he said.
‘‘He [Sons of John] had to work a bit too hard in the early stages in the race. ‘‘We had to make our run a bit earlier than we would have liked. You can’t take it away from Winx winning like that. She’s a freak.’’
Sons of John and jockey Jeff Penza were forced to go the long way round during the race, because of the barrier draw.
Attard felt that on a different day with a better barrier, the gelding would have a genuine shot at winning a group 1 race.
‘‘He definitely proved our thoughts [on his ability] correct by being competitive in that class of race, and versing the best in the country,’’ he said.
Attard, 28, had never trained a horse in a group race before Sons of John won the group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup earlier this year.
The Epsom Handicap was Attard’s first group 1 race, and he said he was inundated with messages of support from family and friends.
‘‘I had hundreds of messages wishing me luck before the race, and just as many after the race saying congratulations,’’ he said.
Attard was bullish with his intentions on what to do next with Sons of John, and did not want to comment on the next move for the talented gelding.
Today, Wednesday, October 7, the sister of Sons of John, Kellyville Flyer, will race at Canterbury Park, along with Haymate.
Attard rates Haymate highly, and the four-year-old gelding will be shooting for his second win in five starts when he contests a benchmark 67 over 1550 metres.
‘‘Poor old Haymate has the outside barrier again,’’ Attard said.
‘‘He has never had a decent barrier but has been working well and should go into the race pretty competitively.’’
Kellyville Flyer will contest a 1900-metre race for the first time, and Attard said he was confident she would do well.
‘‘It is the first time over 1900 metres for her but I am pretty certain it will suit her,’’ he said.
Attard said Penza will ride both horses.