bradleyphotos.com.au
Simply Optimistic will be vying to make it back-to-back wins in Sydney on Saturday when he contests the Kensington Handicap (1300m) at Randwick.
The Brendon Hawtin-trained gelding won over 1200m at Randwick on a Heavy8 track last month and the Waikato conditioner has been pleased with his progress since then.
“He has thrived since his win last start and the extra 100m won’t hurt him,” he said.
“The forecast in Sydney towards the end of the week is for rain, so there’s every chance that they will be running on a similar track.
“Things are looking good there, so I am looking forward to the weekend.”
The son of Encosta De Lago will be ridden by Hugh Bowman and Hawtin said he will take his advice onboard when planning the next steps with his charge.
“We are not going to plan too far ahead, we just want to get this one out of the road and hopefully he runs well,” he said.
“Hugh will be able to jump off and give us a good guide on how high we can set our goals this prep. We just don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves at this stage.”