Racing
Jigsaw shoots for Meteorite honours
Jigsaw will be out to enhance his Cranbourne record when he lines up in The Meteorite.
It seems Jigsaw has been around forever but at Cranbourne on Saturday the sprinter will be lining up for just his 36th race start.
The Cindy Alderson-trained seven-year-old started his career in January 2021 with a win at Geelong and on Saturday will chase a 12th career win when he runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m).
Jigsaw will be shooting for a hat-trick of victories and his biggest prize money haul on Saturday.
The gelding has been a profitable money spinner for connections with $1.35 million in the bank and in his four-year-old year strung together four wins on the trot, claiming three wins at Stakes level including the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley.
It was Jigsaw's victory in the McEwen Stakes over the same course and distance on October 25 that secured Jigsaw a berth in The Meteorite, taking the slot offered by the Moonee Valley Racing Club.
Jigsaw had gone two-and-a-half years without a win and while the gelding had raced well in between victories, Alderson said a long break between runs had got the gelding back into a winning frame of mind.
"It's exciting and he's in fabulous form and ticking all the boxes at the moment," Alderson said.
"He's a horse that has seasons. His coat has never looked better, he's never been brighter and never eaten any better than he is at the moment.
"He had a nice long break, for no particular reason other than we thought he had a fair time of it, so he's come back from that in great order.
"Hopefully we'll get a good track on Saturday, and it will be all systems go."
Alderson took advantage of taking Jigsaw away from the training centre to the racecourse at Cranbourne on Tuesday morning for a gallop.
It was a worthwhile exercise, as Jigsaw reacquainted himself with the track where he is a three-time winner from four starts.
"We had planned to trial him last week, but with the rain, the trials got cancelled, so I thought he needed a bit of stimulation as it would be four weeks between runs," Alderson said.
"Gavin (Bedggood) gave us one to work with and he really enjoyed that opportunity to work with another horse and get his competitive juices flowing."
Apprentice Logan Bates keeps the ride having ridden the sprinter in all three runs this campaign.
"He's pretty excited and it's been a pretty good journey for Logan and I to share this opportunity together," Alderson said.
"He rode the Moe Cup winner for us on Sunday, so it's been going well for us at the moment."
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