Exciting three-year-old Dark Destroyer is ready to make his raceday return in the Listed Daybreak Lover (1400m) at Eagle Farm this coming weekend.

The David Archer-owned three-year-old son of Proisir hasn’t been seen since his gritty victory in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day, with trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott keen to see him perform up to his best during a Brisbane winter campaign.

“We’re very happy with him and keen to see him step out again on the track,” O’Sullivan said.

“He had a good break and has been working up nicely, however you just don’t know quite how they will perform off a break like he had.

“We don’t have any specific targets for him and just want to see him go a tidy race first-up before we think about what else he might line up in.

“Once he has recovered from the run, we can have a talk with David and he can make a decision on where we go from here.”

O’Sullivan had been hoping to take at least three stable runners to Queensland however the sale of promising three-year-old Cacofonix to Australian interests and on-going hoof issues for three-year-old filly Karman Line has seen the team whittled down to just Dark Destroyer.

“We had initially thought we would have three over there but Cacofonix has been sold to Australia so he has left us while we just haven’t been able to get Karman Line right for the trip,” he said.

“She punctured her hoof after she ran third in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) and we haven’t been able to get her to the point where we felt she would be able to show her best.

“She has been under saddle but not at her best so she can go out for a good spell and come back refreshed for next season.

“She is a very talented filly and I think she has an awful lot ahead of her provided we can get her back to her best.”

O’Sullivan also reported that Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner Asterix was experiencing his own foot issues and was in the spelling paddock until next season.

On a brighter note the stable picked up another win at Rotorua on Saturday with four-year-old mare Gone With The Wind, who O’Sullivan believes can excel on the wet tracks likely to be on offer in the next few months.

“She (Gone With The Wind) deserved her win on Saturday as she had gone some nice races lately without an ounce of luck,” he said.

“Andrew and I both think she will be better on the yielding surfaces, so hopefully she can take the step up and perform to a similar level throughout the rest of this campaign.

 

“She does go best when her races are spaced so we will let her get over this one and then look around for a suitable target.”