Weight A Concern For Ellerton
- Tuesday, 16 December 2014 07:32
A return to his home track of Flemington would normally be expected to suit last-start Moonee Valley winner Kaiser Sun.
Mathew Ellerton, who prepares the gelding with his cousin Simon Zahra, has however issued a warning.
Kaiser Sun will lump 61kg in the 1000m race on Saturday, a rise of 7kg from the weight he carried to victory at Moonee Valley on November 29.
With regular rider Chris Symons sidelined after undergoing shoulder surgery, fellow senior jockey Damian Lane, who was successful on Kaiser Sun at Bendigo in May last year, takes the ride.
"The conditions of the race don't suit him," Ellerton said.
"It's a no claims race and he's going from 54 to 61 kilos but there's not much else around for him."
Lord Of The Sky will have to carry top weight of 64.5kg in the race if he backs up from his fourth at Sandown last Saturday week.
With a history of knee problems, Kaiser Sun relishes racing up the straight at Flemington where he has two wins and a third from three outings.
Those knee problems have restricted Kaiser Sun to 10 starts, but the son of Danerich has still registered five wins with his recent racing restricted to the StrathAyr surface at Moonee Valley and the straight at Flemington.
He also hasn't raced beyond 1000m in six runs since those knee problems first surfaced.
Kaiser Sun hasn't been showing any signs of the knee problems that have plagued him through the latter stages of his career but Ellerton admits he is a race by race prospect.
He also described Kaiser Sun an aggressive sort of horse and difficult to train.
"We don't do a lot with him," Ellerton said.
"He does a fair amount of swimming and pacework and he does enough work within himself."
