Friday, 25 May 2012: Royal Ascot bound sprinter Foxwedge was beaten in a barrier trial at Rosehill today but did as much as trainer John O'Shea wanted in preparation for his trip to the UK.
 | Foxwedge
Photo by Racing and Sports | |
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The purpose of the trial was to give Foxwedge the opportunity to show he had recovered from his failure in the G1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick on last month when he was found to have mucus in his throat.
The three-year-was was ridden by Christian Reith in the 900m trial and was not extended to finish second, beaten 4.5 lengths by the speedy Jester Girl in the second fastest time of the seven heats over the distance.
Jester's Girl recorded 53.71 seconds with
Your Song, a two-year-old by fastneyt Rock, running the quickest time of 53.68 on a dead surface.
Foxwedge 
sat outside Jester's Girl for the first 600m and wasn't pushed out by Reith in the run to the line.
"He had a nice blow out as it was the first serious gallop he's had since the TJ Smith,” O'Shea said.
"He looked big and strong and healthy.
"This will bring him along nicely for his trip overseas.
"His action was great and we saw all the things we needed to see.”
Foxwedge is scheduled to leave Sydney by float for Melbourne on Sunday where he will start his quarantine before his flight to the UK next week.
Foxwedge was the subject of a stud deal after he won the G1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley in March and will be retired to Newgate Farm in NSW after his Royal Ascot campaign.
The colt is being aimed at the G1 King's Stand Stakes (1000m) on June 19.
