Darren Weir might have another Hobart Cup candidate on his hands.
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Weir has cited the 225,000 Hobart Cup, 220m, on Sunday, February 5, as a possible target for German import Plein Ciel.
The four-year-old stretched his unbeaten Australian record to four in a Summer Championships heat, 1800m, at Caulfield on Saturday.
"There's still a long way to go, but hopefully he ends up in a nice race one day," Weir said.
“I'm not sure whether we go there, but obviously the Hobart Cup is an option for really good prize money.
“And a trip away wouldn't hurt him either, it would make him grow up a bit."
Weir has won the Hobart Cup four times – True Courser in 2006, Offenbach 2008, Gotta Keep Cool 2009 and Hurdy Gurdy Man 2013.
Plein Ciel was the first leg of a of a race-to-race double for Weir, with Burning Front taking out a 1600m open handicap.
Burning Front has now 12 of 41 starts and been placed 18 times for $650,000 in stakes.
Weir also landed the money with another import at Morphettville in Adelaide.
Gallic Chieftain, which arrived from Europe in the spring with fellow OTI Racing acquisition Grey Lion and was the Melbourne Cup runner's training companion at the Werribee quarantine centre, had his second Australian success in a benchmark82 handicap, 2250m.
It was his fifth outing on Australian soil.
Weir kept the momentum going with another four winners on Sunday, including a treble at Warrnambool. This was highlighted by Refulgent ($10) in the Koroit Cup, 1700m.
THE Storm Inside retained his unbeaten status on his return to racing at Cranbourne trots on Saturday night.
Last season's Australian pacing two-year-old colt/gelding of the year led throughout to rate a comfortable 2:00.3 against his own age.
Another top class youngster from the Cardigan stable of Emma Stewart, The Storm Inside's first season was cut short by illness.
He had shown in six starts he was the best of the juvenile crop.
Despite the shortened campaign he still managed to earn more than $200,000, with the group 1 $222,000 Australian Pacing Gold his biggest scalp.
Stewart and her partner Clayton Tonkin always take plenty of time to get horses back from setbacks - never tempted to rush them back.
The Storm Inside went to Cranbourne on the back of two trials and will now continue on to the Victoria Derby, with heats at Melton on Saturday, January 28.
Stewart kept her winning ways going with a quinella – Major Secret ($2.10 favourite) from Young Modern – in the group 2 $70,000 Horsham Pacing Cup, 2700m, on Sunday as part of a double.
This gives Major Secret two country cups this season after his success at Geelong last month.