Bixilon's Metro Debut

Bixilon will make his metropolitan debut at Caulfield on Saturday in the ‘Vale Graham Salisbury Handicap’ for two-year-old’s. His trainer Levi Kavanagh believes the son of Rubick has made the necessary improvement from his luckless first up run at Sale a fortnight ago where he ran third after getting stuck back on the fence and received a bump late. 

“Bixilon has drawn perfectly for his race at Caulfield on Saturday. Jumping from Barrier 7 he should avoid being stuck back on the fence this time. This is a tough race with some very progressive horses making up the field, but his work on Tuesday was very good, he is not without a chance here, said Levi.

“It was a nice debut run at Sale. Michael Rodd rode him well and gave us a positive post race report. He was very relaxed and slower in the early stages of the race than we anticipated. As a result Barrier 1 ended up being a negative rather than a positive as he became stuck back on the fence rather than being right up on the speed. However, once he was able to get some room in the straight he really finished off well before some interference in the final stages. Had we have drawn off of the fence, he may have been able to sit a little closer in the run and stay out of trouble to win.

“Michael Rodd retains the ride on Saturday and should have him in a better position during the race to be finishing of strongly in the final stages.”

The race is named in honour of Graham Salisbury who sadly passed away last weekend after a long-time battle with cancer. Salisbury is famous for his partnership with 1992 Melbourne Cup winner Subzero, he was a Clerk of the Course at Flemington for many years but it was their involvement in the industry’s community programs that they will always be remembered for.

“As long as I can remember Graham and Subzero have travelled the state far and wide visiting schools, nursing homes and hospitals. We will always be grateful for their commitment to the industry both on and off the track”, added Levi.

In other Jewel Racing news, Alakana is back in work and going well. We can’t wait for him to get to the races this preparation. He Is, who shows a lot of promise in his trackwork didn’t quite get it together on the track this preparation so he will be gelded and have a short spell before returning to the races. Our Wandjina filly is doing everything right after being broken in, she will have another week or so of education at Flemington before returning to the paddock to further grow and mature.