Hunter winner Sweet Deal ready to strike first-up in Guy Walter Stakes

The Hunter winner Sweet Deal resumes in a race at Randwick on Saturday that all the trainers want to win.

That’s because it’s the seventh edition of the Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m).

Walter was one of the most respected figures in racing before he died in 2014 and he amassed 36 Group 1 wins in his career.

John Thompson, trainer of Sweet Deal, said it would be a nice moment if he was able to win the race.

“It would mean a lot. I knew Guy very well,” Thompson said.

“He trained a lot of good horses but more than anything he was a champion fella and a nice guy.”

Sweet Deal has a good first-up record (7:2-2-1) and again will be partnered by champion jockey Nash Rawiller.

And she’s got barrier three which makes it easier for her to be on the speed or just off it like she was when she won The Hunter in great fashion late last year.

Thompson would like the rain to stay away so his mare avoids a bog track.

“She’s going well and her trials have been very nice,” Thompson said.

“She’s well placed in this race under the set weights and penalties. She gets in very well at the weights.

“She’s drawn well and 1400m is probably her best distance and I’m very happy with her.

“She can handle slow tracks but if got into the real heavy range it would slow her up a bit.”

John Thompson says winning the Guy Walter Stakes would mean a lot. Picture: Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Meanwhile, Thompson shed some light on what he thought of his colt Mamaragan’s trial on Tuesday morning at Canterbury.

The three-year-old ran fourth behind Wild Ruler and many thought a colt of his class would’ve trialled up a bit better.

“It was a bit of a head scratcher,” Thompson said.

“We definitely need to put the blinkers back on.

“Hughie (Bowman) said he had a bit of a stargaze when the other two horses came up alongside him.

“The trial will improve him. He had a good blow after it so I might have had him a little bit fresh.”

And his grand final this time in?

“Third-up in the Arrowfield Sprint,” Thompson said.

In other news, Away Game, accepted to race in the Surround Stakes this Saturday, sustained an abrasion to the off-side hip after slipping when being unloaded from a horse float on Wednesday morning.

Racing NSW vets will examine Away Game this morning to see if she’s fit to race in the Surround Stakes.

Originally published asThompson wants Sweet victory to honour Walter

Source: Read Full Article