Time is right for distance test

Second Bullet appears certain to back-up and be tested over 2400m at Caulfield this Saturday following his nose defeat at the weekend.

His Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate winning training Danny O'Brien feels the time is right to test the regally-bred gelding over the longer distance given his present form.

"I am keen to see him over this trip as I feel it will suit him. The way he has been finding the line over 2000m in the past month has been very strong and it's ideal time now with him such a rich vein of form to test him," O'Brien said.

Second Bullet won at Flemington over 2000m at Flemington on January 1 and again on the 16th before he was nosed out over the same trip at the weekend.

"We tried him once over 2500m last May, but he could back off a slow tempo and was never got a chance to get into the race as it was a speed dominated affair," O'Brien said.

Given the riches available to horses that can stay, O'Brien is keen to open this door for his talented charge.

"If you can get past 2000m, it opens so many more great options for him moving forward so this weekend will be a great test to see if he can ran out a trip."

Second Bullet's summer preparation follows a similar path to one of O'Brien's past star performers in Vigor, who won five on end in the Spring/Summer of 2008/09 before returning to win the Group 2 (now Group 1) Makybe Diva Stakes and run third in the Caulfield Cup in the 2009 Spring Carnival.

Photo by Darryl Sherer