Manolo Blahniq will have the chance to advertise his All Star Mile (1600m) credentials in Saturday's Listed Chester Manifold Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
The Tony Noonona trained son of Jimmy Choux was a fast-finishing second to Native Soldier in the Listed Christmas Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield at his last start and Noonan is hoping the gelding can put his head in front and attract the attention of voters for the lucrative A$5 million contest.
“On paper it looks a good race for him,’’ Noonan told Racing.com in reference to Saturday's Listed contest. ‘’He could have drawn a bit tidier (12 of 13) but he’s in good form. He spent a lot of his three-year-olds days as a colt but his last prep in Sydney was very good – he only had the three runs. He’s a consistent little horse and he’s starting to develop into a horse that might win a good race one day.’’
Manolo Blahniq has caught the eye in both runs this campaign and goes into the race third-up as one of the favourites.
Bred by Nearco Stud, Manolo Blahniq was purchased out of Curraghmore's 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock draft for $115,000.-racing.com
