Boom colt Profondo will miss the rest of the Sydney Autumn Carnival, with connections opting to spell the horse and aim towards the spring, rather than pushing on towards the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and ATC Derby.
The AU$1.9 million colt won the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick in October at just his third career start, so there was plenty of hype surrounding the Richard Litt-trained three-year-old heading into the autumn.
Profondo went around in the Australian Guineas first-up on March 12 at Flemington over 1600m, but after drawing a wide barrier and having no luck in the run, he faded to finish 13th in the field of 15.
The son of Deep Impact returned to Sydney for Saturday's Rosehill Guineas over 2000m, but once again he only beat two horses home, running fourth of six in the Group 1 event, some 8.6 lengths behind dominant winner Anamoe.
“Trainer Mr R Litt has advised Racing NSW Stewards that whilst Profondo has pulled up with no abnormalities after racing in the Rosehill Guineas on Saturday, a decision has been made to spell the colt and aim at the Spring Carnival,” Racing NSW wrote.
“Wagering Operators are requested to remove Profondo from all feature race betting markets for the remainder of the Autumn Carnival.”
The Group 1-winning three-year-old is fancied in the Cox Plate (2040m) as a +1600 chance, while he sits on the third line of betting for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at +1600 also.