KEY POINTS:
The A$400,000 ($451,000) Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney is an early target for highly rated Pierre Joseph who resumed on a winning note yesterday.
Pierre Joseph got home by a short head as a $1.40 hot favourite in a $6500 maiden race at the Whangarei Racing Club's meeting at Ruakaka.
It was the Redoute's Choice colt's first race for four months and while his winning margin was narrow, the 1200m was well short of his best, said Auckland trainer Stephen McKee.
"He'll want more ground pretty quickly," McKee said.
That is one of the reasons the Spring Champion Stakes has been chosen as a target. The group one race for 3-year-olds, at Randwick on October 6, is run over 2000m. Last season Pierre Joseph raced four times for two seconds and two fourths.
- NZPA
