Siege Of Quebec faces step up in class

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott will guide Siege Of Quebec towards Group One racing in spring.

Fresh from Supply And Demand’s Grafton Cup win, trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are turning their attention to an expensive colt also on the pathway to black-type racing.

Siege Of Quebec will make his Sydney debut at Rosehill on Saturday as he bids to continue to justify his $1.2 million price tag.

“It does add to the pressure,” Bott said.

“You certainly want to make sure you’re making the right decisions with these types of horses.

“We’re lucky he’s helping making the job a lot easier with his attitude towards his work.”

Siege Of Quebec won on debut at Newcastle over 1250m last month after three winning trials and the #ttheraces Handicap (1400m) will be the platform for his next step towards the Group One Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas.

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Bott conceded Siege Of Quebec, the $2.90 second favourite behind the Chris Waller-trained Calculated ($2.50), faced a step up in class from Newcastle, but he had no concerns about the extra distance.

“The biggest thing is his favour is the 1400. He should relish the extra distance,” he said.

Providing Saturday goes to plan Siege Of Quebec will then build towards the Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 9 and the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 14.

“I think he’s shown enough to certainly be aimed towards those types of races even though I think we’ll see the best of the horse in the autumn,” Bott said.

In the only alteration to Siege Of Quebec’s racing so far, Tommy Berry is on board for the first time as a replacement for the suspended Brenton Avdulla.

Waterhouse and Bott also have three-year-old Arbeitsam lining up as the $4.40 favourite in a Benchmark Handicap (1800m), a week after he won over 1400m at Warwick Farm.

“He’s stepping up sharply in trip but we’re of the opinion he’s a lovely middle-distance horse in the making so this is the ideal sort of time to test that theory,” Bott said.