The Freedman stable has a big opinion and lofty ambitions for Ain’tnodeeldun, who dominates betting in Saturday’s $100,000 Listed Hill Smith Stakes (1800m) at Morphettville.
Freedman’s racing manager Brad Taylor said the stable is more than prepared to play a patient game with the exciting colt, including bypassing a tilt at the $2 million Victorian Derby later this month.
“We always thought he was a Derby horse, but Anthony had a good look at him after his win the other day and thought he might be better with time,” Taylor said.
“He’s still very immature, but he’s a beautiful type and we’ve got to do what’s best for the horse.”
That could mean one more run back in Melbourne in the spring before the stable focuses on some even bigger races in the autumn.
“We’re aiming for the top and we believe he has the ability to get there,” Taylor said.
“He’ll most likely he’ll come back for the Moonee Valley Vase. There is also a Listed three-year-old race on Melbourne Cup Day that Russian Camelot run second in last year (and) one of those look ideal.
“His first target in the autumn will be the Australian Guineas. I know he won his maiden over a mile but we think he can match it with the best three-year-olds over a mile. We haven’t put blinkers on him yet. Dundeels tend to improve with blinkers or head gear and we’ll keep them up or sleeve.
“The Australian or the Randwick Guineas will determine where we head.
“He could take on the older horses in a race like the Queen Elizabeth or the Doncaster. He’s a horse we’ve got a pretty high opinion of and hopefully he can prove that and take it to the track.”
Ain’tnodeeldun was brilliant winning his maiden at Sale, where he was caught wide with cover. The win only made more impressive by his ability to quickly put rivals away – by five lengths – when given his head with Damian Lane in the saddle.
“It took sending him over there (to SA) to get Damian off him,” Taylor said.
“He’s ridden the whole way through; the only time he hasn’t was when he was in Japan and he really likes this horse.”
Taylor said Ain’tnodeeldun’s Sale win was the first time the horse had really put his talent into practice on race day.
“We’ve always had a really good opinion of him,’’ Taylor said.
“He’s a typical Dundeel, he was never going to be a two-year-old, but we gave him a couple of starts and he ran really well in all three.
“He’s a bit of a timid horse. As a two-year-old he was bottled away and only just plodded and didn’t really want to take gaps, but as you saw the other day when he got to the outside the penny is starting to finally drop and we saw what we know he’s capable of.
“The trip away will do him the world of good and hopefully he’ll come back a more mature horse.”
Ain’tnodeeldun will be ridden by Dom Tourneur and is marked a $2.30 favourite with tab.com.au.
IMAGE: Racing Photos
