Trainer Brock Lewthwaite admits there will be added pressure when he watches Prawns Eleven in the Listed Tabtouch-Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on Saturday, but he’s confident the talented three-year-old can rise to the occasion.
If Prawns Eleven jumps away slowly from the barriers, which has been his pattern in recent starts, the race could effectively be over, get away to a flying beginning and he will be in the $500,000 race right up to his eyeballs.
The Super Easy colt bounded on jumping at his Ascot debut two starts back, but was good enough to storm home with a burst of speed and overhaul frontrunner The Coolakin King for an impressive half-head victory.
Last Saturday at Ascot his prospects were dashed early when he missed the start by three lengths and despite carrying 59kg and surging home powerfully, he had too much ground to recover from My Bella Mae and ran second.
Prawns Eleven has won three races from five starts and placed in two others and according to Lewthwaite is untapped if he can improve his barrier starts.
For that reason, he’s added winkers for the first time to Prawns Eleven, banking on the race day gear to improve his sluggish jumps.
“Hopefully the right changes can have the right affect at the right time; it will be a good way to find out,” Lewthwaite told The Races WA.
“In that sort of field on Saturday you can’t have anything going wrong.
“If he jumps well he will definitely learn a lot and we’ll all see how good he is.
“He’s jumped slow both starts, so it’s a bit nerve racking, but if he jumps it’s all on.
“It’s going to be one of those races where you have to watch the first 50 metres and spot the cap.”
Prawns Eleven underlined his potential in the goldfields with a couple of eye-catching performances in lesser company.
Lewthwaite took him to Kalgoorlie for education before bringing him back to Perth where his form continued to spike.
He’s never been shy in talking up his promising horse, but says he’ll get a better guide on how good he is after going up against a crack field in the Placid Ark Stakes.
“We still haven’t seen the finished product yet,” Lewthwaite said.
“We’ll give him a chance to click on Saturday.
“It’s good to see him in this company, he’ll definitely learn a lot and then we can all see how good he is.”
Prawns Eleven has drawn barrier two with regular rider Natasha Faithfull keeping the mount.
With Tabtouch he is currently $13.