Hoysted’s 2023 Oakleigh Plate champion will leave the River City on Wednesday for Sydney, where Uncommon James has been slated to run in Saturday’s $500,000 Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick.
“The only deterrent is the weather,” said Hoysted, who wants to leave Brisbane before Cyclone Alfred reaches southeast Queensland on Thursday.
“He won’t be running if it’s a wet track. He really doesn’t like that.”
That could pose a problem given up to 35mm of rain has been forecast to fall in Sydney on Thursday and Friday, plus another 20mm on race day.
The back-up option will be the Group 3 Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill the following week, with the $1 million Group 1 Galaxy (1100m) and Group 3 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) – both at Rosehill on March 22 and March 22 respectively – also on the agenda.
Hoysted said all the signs pointed to Uncommon James, who hasn’t won since his Oakleigh Plate triumph two years ago, making a successful return this autumn.
But if the six-year-old gelding fails to make an impact in Sydney, Hoysted won’t baulk on sending his star sprinter to the retirement paddock.
Asked whether this was a line-in-the-sand autumn for Uncommon James, Hoysted replied: “Pretty much. If he’s not able to be competitive in these types of races then I don’t really have any interest in having him bowl along and be finishing midfield.
“He’s got to show that he can be competitive in this better grade and if he wasn’t to do so then I’ve got no hesitation in retiring him.
“He’s done more than enough for me and my stable. We’ll look after him but he definitely seems to be giving all the indicators that he’s as good as he’s ever been so I’m happy to be taking him to the races.”
Uncommon James hasn’t raced since early June when he finished seventh out of 10 runners in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm on a “shifty track”.
Before that he placed eighth in the Group 2 Victory Stakes (1200m) at the same venue on May 4 and fifth in the Galaxy last March.
Hoysted, however, is confident Uncommon James has rediscovered his “zest” for racing.
“The fact that he hasn’t been able to win a race since that Oakleigh Plate probably has been a little disappointing but hopefully we can get him back on track,” the trainer said.
“He’s in a really good head space and that’s why we’re heading down to Sydney.
“We’re taking it realistically as a run-by-run preparation with him. I’m not willing to throw him right into the deep end, I want him to get a bit of confidence.
“This prep is all about seeing if he still has a zest for racing.”
Josh Parr has been booked to ride Uncommon James on Saturday.
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