Morrissy sprints to Caulfield victory

Morrissy may have earned a run in a Group Two sprint in Adelaide after a good victory at Caulfield.

Troy Corstens will consider raising the bar again with lightly raced three-year-old Morrissy after the colt raced to a determined victory at Caulfield.

Morrissy won a maiden at Tatura on debut by six lengths in one of two starts last spring, while this campaign the colt had been beaten into the placings at both Seymour and Ballarat.

The three-year-old stepped up in Saturday’s Robert Taranto Handicap (1200m) against his own age at Caulfield and after sitting wide on the pace he dug in for the fight in the straight to win by 1-1/4-lengths.

Ridden by apprentice Lachlan King, Morrissy ($6) defeated Poised To Strike ($5) with Mumbles ($21) a nose away third.

“I always thought he was a really good horse,” said Troy Corstens, who trains in partnership with his father Leon.

“Just his first two runs this preparation made me think a bit, but it was good to see him do that today.

“He sat four wide and did a few things wrong still, but he was fantastic.

“I’ll probably have a look at the Euclase Stakes in Adelaide now in a couple of weeks and just go from there.”

Corstens praised a couple of his staff, Dom Sutton and Eddie Cassar, who he said had done plenty of work with Morrissy on the training track.

The Group Two Euclase (1200m) for three-year-olds at Morphettville on May 4 is also an option for Morrissy’s stablemate Thrillster, who made her return for the first time since last spring with a close second to Graceful Storm in Saturday’s Geoff Murphy Handicap (1100m).

Corstens said Thrillster had improvement to come and would likely run next in either the Group One Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) or the Euclase, which are on the same program.