After twenty months on the sidelines, Franz Josef will make his comeback from a tendon injury at Rosehill, and connections expect a competitive return despite the time away.
The five-year-old will line up in Saturday’s Racing And Sports Handicap (1300m), his first start since beating one rival home in the Ladies Day Cup (1600m) at Hawkesbury in November, 2024.
He has been given a solid foundation with a grounding preparation in which he didn’t race, and two recent barrier trials.
“We brought him back and gave him a trial, but instead of going to the races we gave him a let-up, just because he’d been off the scene for twelve months at that point,” co-trainer Sterling Alexiou said.
“He’s had a really good grounding this time in with two nice trials, and he’s ready to resume on Saturday. His work and his trials would suggest he’s ready to run a good race.”
“Just fitness-wise, he’s quite a big horse. Probably sixteen (hands) two (inches) and close to six hundred kilos. He will improve with racing given he hasn’t been to the races for close to two years.”
“But if Nash (Rawiller) can work him into a spot from that 1300 start, he’ll run very well.”
Prior to his injury, Franz Josef had built a handy record of four wins from eight starts.
His three most recent appearances yielded unplaced performances, but Alexiou put that down to a lack of suitable races at the time.
“A couple of those races where his form didn’t look crash hot was him running in races we probably shouldn’t have because there weren’t the right races around for him,” he said.
“We ran him over 1800 one day and that was just a bridge too far. His form should read better than it does.”
Following an impressive win in his most recent trial, Franz Josef is a $6 second pick in early betting markets behind $5.50 favourite and last start Rosehill winner, Dark Glitter.
