Racing
Storm brewing in Christmas Handicap
Consistent galloper Chicago Storm will chase a third win of the campaign in the Christmas Handicap at Morphettville.
Murray Bridge trainer David Aldridge says the task of finding suitable races for his consistent galloper Chicago Storm is getting tougher by the day.
Possibly the best galloper Aldridge has prepared in a career spanning 30 years, Chicago Storm will chase a second Stakes win when he lines up in the Listed Christmas Handicap (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
Aldridge said Chicago Storm had been relishing racing over sprint trips this campaign, which is where the gelding's future may lie.
Chicago Storm's solitary Stakes win came in the Listed City Of Adelaide Handicap (1527m) at Morphettville in 2024 while he had been placed at Group 3 level over 1600m.
"He's come back in really good form this prep," Aldridge said.
"He should have won last start, and we should really be three out of four for this prep.
"We've been keeping him to sprinting, mainly due to a lack of races over here for him, so we've kept at the 1200 metres and just trained him accordingly."
Having won twice this campaign, Chicago Storm's rating has been creeping up to the point where the gelding is topweight with 59.5kg on Saturday.
"We've actually been lucky this prep that we've found a few races," Aldridge said.
"His rating now virtually means we can only run him at Carnival times, in Listed races and that type of thing, but it's better than having a horse that is too slow.
"I haven't really looked past Saturday, but I would say we would look at keeping him fresh and I think there's the (Listed) City Of Marion Stakes, which is about two months between runs and then we'll chase the Carnival with him.
"He won the City Of Adelaide a couple of years ago, but then again if he wants to be a sprinter, like he has been showing, we might keep at that distance and maybe we could have a look at The Goodwood if his form warranted it.
"He's won over a mile, but he probably doesn't get the mile, the last 50 metres tests him.
"He's probably better around the 1200 metres and 1400 metres, but there's no 1400-metre races at Morphettville and there's none on the Parks track for his class.
"He is getting tricky to place, but we've been lucky this prep that the races have slotted into some sort of sequence."
Aldridge concedes he may need to look to Victoria potentially more often for Chicago Storm at the conclusion of the Adelaide Carnivals in March and again in April-May.
But on previous trips to Melbourne, Chicago Storm has not handled the travel.
"I've taken him over twice, but he's not the best traveller, as by the time you get him home again, you've virtually got to pull up stumps and start again," Aldridge said.
"He's disadvantaged by going over, so it's easier to zip him down to Morphettville, but he has got better as he's got older and I suppose there's going to have to be a stage where we must go over."
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