Ultimate Art Back In Work

Michael Formosa.

Last season’s Bathurst Gold Crown winner Ultimate Art has returned to the stables of Hunter Valley trained Michael Formosa. The son of Modern Art has not raced since finishing fourth in the Gr. 1 Two Year Old Colts and Geldings Breeders Challenge Final and Formosa is looking forward to having the colt back to the races early in the new year.

“Ultimate Art has just returned from three months in the paddock and he has been back about a week,” Formosa said.

“I normally work on a routine and have the horses back at the trials after about ten weeks work and then back at the races a fortnight later so on that plan if everything went right and barring any bad luck or incidents then it would be early January before he resumes.”

Ultimate Art provided Formosa with his first Gr. 1 win as a trainer but he is still unsure whether he is the best horse he has ever trained.

“Winning a Gr. 1 makes him a very special horse to me but it is hard to say whether he is the best horse I’ve ever had, he still has a long way to go to get through to M4 or M5 company.”

“The aim for the season is to get him back and target Bathurst again but this time it will be the Gold Chalice and then if all is going well he will have another shot at the Breeders Challange.”

Formosa is pleased with the development in the horse since his last run In June.

“He probably didn’t really fill out until the last month in the paddock but the time away has definitely helped him grow and he has thickened up nicely, hopefully he can have a little bit more luck with the barriers this season.”

“He got a good draw in the Gold Crown and I think he drew one in a four horse field at Newcastle and was beaten by No Ah Saint but every other start he had as a two year old he drew poorly which forced him to work very hard.”

Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) is the controlling body for harness racing in New South Wales with responsibility for commercial and regulatory management of the industry including 31 racing clubs across the State. HRNSW is headed by an industry-appointed Board of Directors and is independent of Government.

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