Seven-year-old gelding Young Werther indicated he is in for another good campaign when resuming from a brief break with a strong win in the Quayclean Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Danny O’Brien-trained son of Tavistock lumped 61kgs under Blake Shinn and sat just behind a strong tempo set by eventual runner-up Duke De Sessa, getting the better of that rival after the pair sprinted for home early, scoring by three-quarters of a length.
With five wins to his name from 34 starts and a further 12 placings, the veteran middle-distance galloper has competed at the highest level and is five-time Group One placed.
Among those elite level placings are a second and third placing in the Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington in 2021 and 2022 respectively, and connections of Young Werther are keen to make it third time lucky.
Winning trainer Danny O’Brien was impressed with the win as Young Werther advanced his career earnings to A$2,100,950 in a slick time of 2:01.41.
“He’s got 61kgs on his back and he is only a little fella, but he did that last spring, winning a race with 61.5kgs,” O’Brien said.
“It was a proper race for the two of them really, they levelled out a long way from home. It always looked like he was going to get the better of the second horse, but he had to do it, and I thought it was a good effort.”
O’Brien is convinced Young Werther has continued to improve as he has aged.
“He was always a little backward horse and his last two winters he has been to Brisbane and he has come back from Queensland both times really well,” he said.
“I think he will go to a better level again this spring and he only needs to find a length or two to win a nice race. He has been around the mark in a few decent Group Ones.”
The Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) on October 5 looms as an obvious target.
“He has run second in it and third in it as a younger horse and he still gets in well at set weights and penalties, where he doesn’t get the penalty,” O’Brien said.
“He has got a great record at Flemington over the 2000m and we can use that to see where he goes to from there.
“We have stayed away from Caulfield because he has never really gone well here, but he has won here today so there is a chance he could go from a Turnbull into a Caulfield Cup (Gr.1, 2400m) this year.”
Young Werther was purchased out of Cambridge Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft by O’Brien, in partnership with Aquis Farm, for $140,000.
Out of the winning Fastnet Rock mare Romantic Time, Young Werther is a half-brother to last season’s Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m) winner About Time, along with stakes placegetter Romantic Lady.