Bruce Wallace believes he may have been too hasty in pigeon-holing Fast Dragon as a miler-middle-distance horse.
Now he is hoping the Fastnet Rock stallion can be too hasty for his rivals in Saturday's Gr.3 Stella Artois Concorde Handicap rivals at Ellerslie.
Wallace, who trains out of South Auckland's Byerley Park, says the change in approach with Fast Dragon has come for several reasons - one that the Group One performer developed a wind affliction last preparation that required corrective surgery, and another that a first-up run in last month's Listed Counties Bowl at Avondale fitted in nicely with his programme.
"We were going to kick him off in the 1400m Listed race at Te Rapa next weekend but he was ready to go and I said to Allan [Peard, Wallace's assistant trainer] 'why don't we start him in this instead?'
"I thought it was a mighty run. They were scrubbing up inside him and the speed was on but it was only late that he peaked on his run. If he was in his peak state, he would just about have won it," Wallace said.
Fast Dragon's sixth placing in the Counties Bowl under Cambridge jockey Mark Hills has encouraged Wallace to tackle the Concorde Handicap over 1200m, rather than step up to 1400m, a total shift in mindset regarding the former $125,000 Karaka yearling sale graduate.
"All the way through we thought he was a mile to 2000m horse and we never really thought much about him sprinting," Wallace said.
"He trialled up well at the start over short trips and showed he could jump and run but the thing about him was he had the stride the size of a football field and while he showed he had the ability, he just couldn't get his legs wound up.
"Because of that, we started riding him back rather than getting him up on speed with an eye to having him ready for Derby racing."
The winner of the Listed Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie as a two-year-old, Fast Dragon has proved competitive at the highest level, with his best runs including a close-up third behind Soriano and Nashville in the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa earlier this year.
"In the back of our mind after he had the wind operation was that we might have to think twice about racing over those longer distances," Wallace said.
"The wind operation has been a 100 percent success, easily the best result of any I've had, but he's got the speed and he showed that with his first-up run.
"At the weights [Fast Dragon carries 56.5kg, 3.5kg less than topweight Whosyourmaster with 60kg] and with a good draw [barrier seven], I really think he could win on Saturday.
"We've put in a late nomination for the Railway based on his first run and I've said to Peter Chiu and the Able International guys that it might be in our interests to wait around at these distances a little longer."
