EXCITING youngster Charlie Boy could be the horse to step forward and claim the vacant title of `boom two-year-old’ when he debuts in the ATC Membership On Sale Now Handicap (1100m) at Rosehill tomorrow.
At the corresponding time last year, we had already seen the Golden Slipper winner, Pierro, and Magic Millions winner, Driefontein, in action.
Smaller field sizes are a contributing factor to the lacklustre opening to the season – there were only four runners in the two-year-old feature at Hawkesbury while Charlie Boy will have just five others lining up against him, including another Myboycharlie in David Payne’s filly Artistic Lass.
“I think a lot of people now take it a bit easier with their two-year-olds earlier in the season, I know I have this year especially,” trainer Gerald Ryan told Sportsman.
“You only get a crack at one or two races and you could bugger them by trying to get there for one race.”
With that in mind, Ryan will soon have to make a decision on whether that `one race’ is the $2.5 Magic Millions 2Y0 Classic in January or the Golden Slipper Stakes in the autumn.
An $80,000 yearling purchase by former Champion 2YO Myboycharlie, Charlie Boy looked the part in his most recent 900m barrier trial running his rivals ragged to win by 3.5 lengths in very slick time.
“He’s a nice horse and has always shown ability. I quite like him,” Ryan said.
“He had only had one jump out prior to his first trial and (with) that bit of extra work into him he made good improvement.
“There was always going to be improvement in between the trials and I would imagine there would be improvement in him from his last trial too.’
