Sergeant ready for Brisbane blast

Multiple winner Sergeant Blast has reported for his first taste of overseas action.

The son of Darci Brahma has relocated to Brisbane for the winter with his Queensland racing programme to be left in the hands of his new trainer.

“He’s gone to Brian Smith at Eagle Farm,” said Waverley trainer Sam Lennox, who also has a share in the five-year-old. “He’ll probably have a trial and then Brian can work out what level he thinks he’s up to over there.

“He’s part-owned by the Stewart brothers, Cam and Chas, and they’ve raced a lot of horses with Brian.”

Their leading representatives include Order Again, a New Zealand-bred son of Iffraaj who won last season’s Gr.3 Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) at Eagle Farm while Jetset Lad is a Gr.2 Brisbane Cup (2200m) winner.

Sergeant Blast has won six of his 17 starts, including an open handicap success over 1600m at Trentham at his most recent appearance in March, that was to have been his lead-up to a Group Two feature.

“It took a while to get him right, but then he got a cold before the Awapuni Gold Cup so we had to back off,” Lennox said.

“He’s ready to go again and it’s silly to have him here in his prime when there’s heavy tracks so we’ll have a go in Queensland and see what happens.”