Talented four-year-old Dragon Leap will travel to Sydney on Monday as he looks to target spring riches. The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained galloper won twice at Group 2 level as a three-year-old and finished fourth in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).
The lightly-tried gelding is expected to be best suited to a mile as an older horse and topped off his preparations with an exhibition gallop between races at Matamata last Saturday. “We were happy with him,” O’Sullivan said. “It was testing conditions (heavy10) and he ran nice time considering the ground. “He has pulled up well and we’re very pleased.”
Dragon Leap is set to commence his campaign in the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on September 5 and could be aimed at one of Sydney’s feature mile races should he perform to expectations on Saturday week. “If he performs well in the Tramway the Epsom (Group 1, 1600m) would be his target,” O’Sullivan said. “He is fairly forward. He had a quiet trial and beat a couple home, which is par for the course for him, but he is pretty forward.”
Owned in Hong Kong, the long-term future for the son of Pierro is likely in that jurisdiction, but the A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) for four-year-olds is a likely target this campaign.
Stablemate Sir Charles Road is already in Sydney and will contest Saturday’s Group 3 Premiers Cup (1900m) as he builds towards another tilt at the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m), a race he finished third in last year.