Astern can overcome difficult Golden Rose draw

An awkward barrier draw for star colt Astern may have made his task more difficult in the G1 Golden Rose, but he remains the horse to beat in the $1 million race run at Rosehill on Saturday, September 10.

Astern (John O’Shea/James McDonald) drew gate 12 in the 14-runner field with stablemate Impending (John O’Shea/Brenton Avdulla) to jump from barrier two.

For the Australian team, Astern’s wide gate was a blow, but not a knockout.

“We’ve won this race from wide draws before and the way Astern is progressing in this preparation, he can overcome it,” said managing director of Godolphin in Australia Henry Plumptre.

“He’s dropping his head, racing much more kindly. He’ll probably have to go back, but no jockey is riding better than James McDonald and he’ll make the right decisions.”

Concerns have also been aired about Astern’s ability at the 1400m of the Golden Rose, but Plumptre said the stable was confident the trip is well within his scope.

“We have Guineas aspirations for this colt later in the Spring, so this trip shouldn’t present a problem,” he said.

“He is by Medaglia d’Oro so we’re anticipating that will kick in and along with racing pattern he’s shown us during this preparation, it should give him the chance to run it out strongly.”

Astern goes into the Golden Rose with a record of four wins from his only five starts and off a career-best victory in last month’s G2 Run To The Rose.

In the same race, Impending finished third, an effort which suggested the son of Lonhro was on an upward curve.

“Impending was brought along a bit more slowly in his first prep and it’s probably fair to say he has plenty of improvement to come,” Plumptre said.

“He has the pedigree that says he’ll run seven furlongs at Group One level. His mother was a classic winner, he’s a colt who’s shown he should appreciate this trip.”

“I really feel we have the best two colts in the race, the draw for Astern could be better, but it is far from a disaster.”

Godolphin and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum have won the Golden Rose previously with Exosphere last year and Forensics (2008), Denman (2009) and Epaulette (2012).