Snitzel colt to back-up in Coolmore after Cox Plate Day win
Bittercreek will back-up in next week's Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes after bouncing back to form in the $200,000 Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes (1200m).
The son of Snitzel will get the chance to land the win would make him a multi-million-dollar colt after atoning for his flop in the Danehill Stakes.
The Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner from earlier in the year could manage only seventh in that Group 2 event, but had a tongue tie applied for the Red Anchor Stakes and made co-trainer Troy Corstens a relieved man after the $7.50 chance's three-quarters-of-a-length win over Pisces.
"I've got to say I was absolutely gutted after his run in the Danehill because I thought he was an out-and-out Coolmore horse, and when he ran the way that he did, it just really floored me," Corstens, who trains in partnership with his father Leon and Will Larkin, said before declaring his intention to back-up.
"The timing might not be ideal, but he's a three-year-old colt, he's a strong boy, he's really, really tough and nd he's going to take his place in the Coolmore."
Bittercreek was inserted as a $18 chance in Coolmore Stud Stakes markets, which are headed by $3.50 joint favourites Traffic Warden and Growing Empire.