Fitzsimmons pleased with progress; Shamateur to make return for Fliedner

BENDIGO’S leading trainer Tim Fitzsimmons says it’s regrettable, but he is increasingly unlikely to be without a runner on Bendigo Cup Day next Wednesday.

Fitzsimmons – winner of the 2024-25 Bendigo trainer of the year title with 11 winners, despite only saddling up his first Australian runner midway through the season – said timing was against him in his bid to fly the flag for the locals on cup day.

“I might have one (runner), but I doubt it at this stage,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate; it’s just the way it works sometimes, with so many races on.

“It’s a bit of a quiet patch for me at the moments, while I am waiting for some young horses to come through.

“Hopefully things will start to heat up a bit more soon.”

Fitzsimmons’ initial cup day planning revolved around Bendigo’s reigning middle-distance horse of the year Black Storm.

The six-year-old gelding has been one of the shining lights for Fitzsimmons since his move from Singapore at the end of last year, winning two of six starts, including one at metropolitan level, and being placed in two others.

Black Storm has not raced since finishing seventh of 15 starters in a benchmark 84 at Flemington in early August.

“He is just going to take a bit longer with his preparation. He’s probably a few days off a trial,” Fitzsimmons said.

“He won at Sandown last prep and we’re hoping to win a race with him in town this prep, or to maybe target him at a few of these country cups.

“He was good at Sandown and then I took him to Flemington and I shouldn’t have run him.

 

“He drew (barrier) 17 and had to work a bit hard. He still ran okay, but he was a bit flat after that.”

Boasting 14 wins and 21 placegetters at a respective strike rate of 18 per cent (winning) and 45 per cent (place), Fitzsimmons is thrilled by his first 10 months in Bendigo.

“We’ve still got a reasonable strike rate, but a lot of these Singapore horses are getting a little bit old, so we are waiting for the younger ones to come through,” he said.

“We are going to head to the Ready To Run Sales in New Zealand early next month – hopefully we can find a few there.

“And then we will be at all the yearling sales, which we weren’t last year. We only got the tail end of it.

“I do have a nice (unnamed) two-year-old who trialed here at Bendigo the other day.

“Whether she makes it or not, who knows, but we are going to trial her at Caulfield on the 30th.

“If she was to trial well, we would run her on Emirates Stakes day in the Inglis Banner (1000m).”

Meanwhile, the trainer whose former premises Fitzsimmons now owns, Shane Fliedner has earmarked cup day as the starting point of his promising four-year-old gelding Shamateur’s spring campaign.

No stranger to success on Bendigo’s biggest racing days, the former jockey has saddled up seven winners on cup day over the last 15 years and has also claimed the Gold Bracelet and Bendigo Guineas from the city’s annual autumn standalone fixture.

Albeit, it has been a while between drinks on cup day.

Fliedner’s last cup day winner was his four-time city winner Hi Stranger, who won back-to-back races in 2019 and 2020.

Shamateur will make his return over the 1100m trip, having not raced since finishing unplaced over 1440m at Caulfield in late June.

Fliedner is excitedly looking forward to the son of Shamus Award’s return.

“He won at Bendigo and won at Swan Hill, but was down the track at Caulfield when he’d had enough,” said Fliedner, who has 10 horses in work.

“He’ll be first-up, so we’ll see what happens.

“They say I’ve had a bit of success on cup day, but it has been a while,

“I had some nice horses back then – pretty smart. They went on and won in Melbourne, but I don’t really have those sorts of horses now.

“Hopefully, another smart one comes along. I’m hoping.”

Nominations for next Wednesday’s meeting, including the $500,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) close this morning (Friday 24 October), with acceptances declared this Monday.