No Place To Hide For Scales Of Justice: Lindsey Smith
Scales Of Justice took an important step towards his return to racing when he completed a satisfactory jump out at Ballarat this morning (Tuesday).
Trainer Lindsey Smith said the Group 1 winner was ready to launch his comeback in the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
“He settled back in the field and circled them in a not a bad sort of field,” Smith said on Tabradio.
“It looked like he needed to sharpen it up a little bit, but hopefully that’s woken him up a little bit.
“I honestly thought he would go to the line better, but the jockey was happy, he thought he was bludging.”
Scales Of Justice is having his second crack at big time Melbourne racing after he campaigned there during the spring carnival in 2017.
Smith took him east with big expectations after he snatched a brilliant win in the Group One Railway Stakes (1600m) nine months earlier.
The gelding showed he was up to the class after running a cracking second to Redkirk Warrior in the Group 2 Bobby Lewis (1200m) at Flemington.
But since the 2017 Railway Stakes when he faded to near last, the son of Not A Single Doubt has been plagued by a raft of back and feet issues.
The untimely injury setbacks kept him out of racing for almost a year and he has been restricted to just two starts in the 2018 calendar year.
He ran a fair fifth in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) and placed third in the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) at his previous start last November.
Smith said Saturday’s Bletchingly Stakes would be a good test to determine if Scales Of Justice can climb back to the top rung of elite racing.
“If he has pulled up sound there is no reason to go into hiding,” Smith said.
“He’ll be there. He is here to be a racehorse.
“If he is somewhere near his best he deserves to be in that field.
“I’m not expecting him to win, but come Saturday afternoon we will know where he is at.”
Scales Of Justice is one of 20 nominations for the Bletchingly Stakes, Melbourne’s final feature race of the 2018-19 season.
Headlining a strong group of nominations is boom filly, Mystic Journey, a winner of the Australian Guineas and inaugural All-Star Mile.
Julio Santarelli