Bel Sprinter And Happy Trails Aim Toward Manikato And Cox Plate After Successful Wins

Bel Sprinter returned to racing winning first up in the Group 3 $151,000 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley today ahead of Platelet and Leon Corsten's Snitzem. Trainer Jason Warren admitted he was nervous leading into the $150,000 Group 3 race given the series of small setbacks endured by Bel Sprinter.

"It's tough bringing horses back from little set backs. I've just had to roll with the punches," Warren said.

"It's been one small thing after another rather than a big thing. It's just a big relief."

Bel Sprinter's comeback was put on hold for a couple of weeks after the horse suffered a hoof abscess. The five-year-old clocked 57.32 seconds, which was 0.10 seconds outside Miss Andretti's record time.

Bel Sprinter hadn’t started since his 3.4 length 9th of 14 in the Group 1 The Galaxy at Randwick on April 21, behind Temple Of Boom. Trainer Jason Warren is excited about the prospects of Bel Sprinter and now looks towards the Sportingbet Manikato Stakes (1200 m) on Friday, October 26. 
 
Today's feature race, the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) saw winning South Australian galloper Happy Trails adding to his notable weight-for-age form, giving trainer Paul Beshara confidence for the remainder of his spring campaign, including a tilt at the Sportingbet Cox Plate.
 
Happy Trails won his first race in an Adelaide weight-for-age, beating home last Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes winner Southern Speed and trained on with an impressive second in the Memsie Stakes.