Wheeler Jumps at Sydney Cup Opportunity

Trainer John Wheeler may be best known these days as a jumps trainer, however his history on the flat with horses like Rough Habit (Roughcast), Veandercross (Crossways) and Our Poetic Prince (Yeats) is sufficient warning that if he brings a non-jumping horse to Australia, it's best to respect that decision. In news out of New Zealand, NZ Racing Desk reports that the Hall of Fame trainer, who has sent three horses ahead for South Australia's Oakbank Carnival, is also sending Beaudz Well (Zed-Celtic Rose, by Pins) to Sydney for a campaign aimed at the Gr1 Sydney Cup (3200m). The 4YO gelding, by the same sire as champion Verry Elleegant and part-owned by All Blacks star Beauden Barrett and Super Rugby players James Marshall and Marty Banks, ran a solid race to finish third in the Listed New Zealand St Leger (2600m) behind Gr3 Wellington Cup (3200m) winner Waisake (Zed). Beaudz Well will head to Sydney and use the Gr2 Chairman's Quality (2600m) at Randwick on April 10 as a lead-up to the Sydney Cup a week later. Wheeler explained his reason for choosing Sydney over New Zealand's staying features: "[The] Auckland and Wellington [Cups] generally speaking are raced on pretty hard tracks, and I've been to Sydney quite a few times over Easter, and it's normally rain-affected there, which suits him better… He's a pretty good stayer in the making, he's just getting there now. He's only four, so he's a youngster."

Beaudz Well is a Sydney Cup propspect (pic: Trish Dunell)