David Jolly is confident he has multiple Group 1 winner Behemoth in a good place ahead of his return to racing at Morphettville on Saturday.
Behemoth will chase a third successive Spring Stakes victory when he kicks off a campaign geared around chasing third straight Group 1 Memsie Stakes win and Jolly said his main concern would just how wet the Morphettville surface gets ahead of Saturday.
“Just how much rain we get and where the track ends up would be the only reservation I have,’’ Jolly said.
“The rail back in the true position might mean the fresh ground is the place to be and we’re drawn wide, but I’m going there happy with the horse,’’ he said.
Jolly said as Behemoth gets older, he’s a horse who tends to save his best for race day.
“He’s in good form I think,’’ Jolly said.
‘He’s well and happy, you don’t tend to test horses like him a lot at this point of his preparation.
“He might be getting a little lazier as he gets a bit older, but he seems to be in great shape. He might not be as sharp as he was a season or two ago but sometimes when horses get older, they save it for the races,’’ he said.
Behemoth will be ridden by Paul Gatt for the first time in his career with Kayla Crowther riding stablemate Calypso Reign.
“Gatty had a feel for him on Tuesday and was pretty happy,’’ Jolly said.
“Kayla would have chosen to ride him no doubt, but I said to her Calypso might be worth staying on as there is two or three races here that I think he’ll be very competitive in going forward.
“He’s a workman-like horse who has really learnt to win.
“He has really developed his versatility and can sustain a long sprint, I’m sure he can run a nice race as well,’’ he said.
