Kyle Harper says he will be taking a patient approach with his outstanding juvenile Franco Edward.
The gun two-year-old underlined his class with an all the way win in the $100,000 Pearl Classic (2130m) on Friday, the bay colt’s third win from four starts.
Harper, who trains and drives Franco Edward, has ruled out a trip east and says his budding star will round out his campaign in Perth to target a second Group 1 victory.
“He will go into one of the heats of the Slipper and then into the Slipper (Final) and that will probably see him out,” Harper told Tabradio.
“We will probably look after him and tip him out to the paddock.
“I will talk to Robert (Watson) about it, but that seems to be the plan.
“Two more starts into the paddock, so hopefully we can make them a couple of good ones.
“He is a little bit immature and it’s amazing what he is doing.
“He is not a 110 per cent the horse and as most two-year-olds are he has a few little niggles.
“He needs to grow and mature into himself a little.
“He seems faultless, but is not quite.
“What he is doing is quite amazing.
“We want to look after him and make sure we don’t push the envelope too far with him too soon.”
While Franco Edward is Harper’s two-year-old flag bearer and nominal favourite for the Group 1 Golden Slipper on July 13, he believes Soho Thunderstruck presents his team with a strong two-pronged attack.
The former Victorian, previously under the care of Michael Stanley, caught the eye in a Byford trial before running third to the Mike Reed-trained Bletchley Park in his Perth debut at Gloucester Park on June 8.
“He is working on really well and coming in leaps and bounds,” Harper said.
“Franco Edward has that specialness about him, but this bloke is not that far behind.
“He is going to be a very nice horse and is on the same plan to the Golden Slipper.
“We should have two very nice horse heading into the Slipper.
“I’m pretty happy with him at this stage.
“I think if he jumped to the front at Gloucester Park he will be very hard to run down.”
Julio Santarelli