Xtravagant Heads Home for Break

The Informant reports:

With the boom coming off him at least temporarily following his below par Australian Guineas performance, Xtravagant is headed for the spelling paddock while future plans are decided.

After setting the pace in yesterday's 1600-metre Flemington feature, Xtravagant had little to offer when the challenges came and he finished eighth, 4.5 lengths form the winner Palentino. That result meant scrapping plans to back the Pentire colt up in next Saturday's 2000-metre Australian Cup and he is booked on a flight back to New Zealand this week.

“He'll go to the paddock and we'll sit down and go through everything to work out a plan for next season,” co-trainer Stephen Autridge told www.theinformant.co.nz from Melbourne this morning.

“Before the race I had no doubt in my mind that he would go 2000 metres, but I've had to rethink that.  It could be that his best distance is under a mile and that's one option, to sort through the most suitable races for the spring.”

Autridge points to a number of other factors that may have had a bearing on yesterday's performance, from the length of his three-year-old campaign, to the delay in travel arrangements and the race itself.

“It could be that he's been up for too long. After all, apart from a 10-day break after the 2000 Guineas he's been on the go the whole time.

“He might have done with a little bit longer to settle in. It didn't help that his flight was delayed a day. Every day after that his appetite got better and it could have made a difference.

“Now they're saying the inside section of the track was slightly off and when you look at it, the winners were coming from off the fence.

“The main thing is he's come out of it fine. The vets went all over him after the race and couldn't find anything wrong with him, so he can go home, have a break and come back in May for a nice steady build-up to the spring.”