BUZZ French import Kristal Josselyn blitzed his rivals in a Menangle trial today (Wednesday), but won’t chase Saturday week’s $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star.
The six-year-old thrashed a moderate field by 58.5m in a 1min54.8sec mile, but still pulled up like he needed more work before tackling such a hard assignment first-up.
“It’s not any normal race, it’s the Great Southern Star against the best and he’d have to race twice in a night,” owner Norm Jenkin said.
“I’d love him to be there, but we can’t risk his long term future for this one race.
“We always knew it was going to be a bit of a race against time to have him right for this, so we'll go back to the original plan and target the Group 1 mile race (Hammerhead) on Miracle Mile night (at Menangle) now.
“Then there’s races like the TAB Trot in Cambridge and the Brisbane Inter Dominion.”
Jenkin said trainer-driver Luke McCarthy is excited about Kristal Josselyn’s potential.
“It seems like we’ve got the right horse, but we’ll just need to be a bit more patient,” he said.
“While he improved on his first trial, he still pulled up like he’s not quite fit enough yet.
“They said he’s still a bit fat and has some of his winter coat, all signs we need to give him a bit more time.”
Kristal Josselyn won six races in France, including two at Group 2 level, and was sourced by NSW-based trainer Anton Golino.
It was Golino who trained another boom European import, Callmethebreeze, to win the 2024 Great Southern Star and finished second to Just Believe in the TAB Trot a few months later.
