Emerging sprinter Kote has piled on the kilograms during his summer break and trainer Anthony Cummings is still trying to work out whether that is a good thing.
The three-year-old is “12 to 15 kilos” heavier than he was in the spring and Cummings is hoping it is due to extra muscle.
“It is yet to be determined what that extra weight is, whether it’s strength due to maturity or a bit of fat, I’m not sure,” Cummings said.
“We will find out at about the half-furlong (100m) on Saturday.”
Cummings has a high opinion of Kote and nominated him for the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) last weekend.
However, he decided the shorter 1000-metre journey of Saturday’s Yarraman Park Handicap was a better fit, although another black-type test will eventually beckon, possibly in either the Fireball Quality (1100m) or Challenge Stakes (1000m), both at Randwick on March 4.
Kote is already a black-type winner, leading throughout in the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes (1100m) at his final spring run and if he can continue his rise, Cummings hopes he can put himself in the frame for The Everest.
“But he’s got to make himself attractive to the slot holders and to do that he needs to race tractably and reliably,” he said.
Kote is unplaced in two first-up runs, however that statistic could be misleading given the now-gelding was an unruly colt when he made his debut, then was blocked for a run when finishing less than three lengths from Scorch when he resumed last campaign.
“He should have won first-up last time, he just didn’t get the breaks,” Cummings said.
Hawkes Racing four-year-old Remarque has been backed from $6 to $3.90 swiftbet.com.au favouritism for Saturday’s race, with Kote on the second line of betting at $4.20, just ahead of Godolphin sprinter Andermatt ($4.60).