Could Jigsaw rival Jimmysstar in the William Reid?

By Connor Scanlon

Jigsaw proved he had all the pieces again in the VOBIS Gold Sprint on Saturday, winning by 3.5 lengths!

The Cindy Alderson-trained seven-year-old has now made it five wins straight and the sprinter is absolutely flying.

Speaking on RSN’s Correct Weight, the trainer confirmed that she may potentially run the son of Manhatten Rain in the million-dollar William Reid Stakes (1200m) next Saturday, for the gelding to make it six in a row in a Group 1.

“Obviously I let him tell me. He's not a young horse and he's been in work for quite a while, but looking at him now, the way he is, he certainly doesn't appear to have suffered any ill effects from the race (on Saturday),” Alderson revealed.

“I'm just watching him eat right now, so he looks to me to be in great order, so there's no reason to stop him. He's enjoying himself, he's enjoying racing.

“Whatever race we go to next is obviously going to be more difficult because that race had some conditions on it, which you don't get very often with him now, and especially with his rating, it's a bit hard to place him.

“But he's probably earned himself a crack at a race like the William Reid, if he pulls up as well as he looks to have.

“Or failing that, you could look at a race like The Quokka (1200m). He does hold a nomination for the TJ Smith (1200m), but that's probably not a race that we're going to actively consider, even though I think he does go very well right-handed.”

With Alderson potentially sending her stable star to the William Reid at Caulfield, RSN's Nick Noonan and form analyst Ben Caluzzi believe he can definitely run top three in that race, but Jimmysstar will be awfully hard to beat.

Caluzzi: “No signs of training off for this horse yet, he's now won five in a row, he's ticked the group 1.”

“He might be backing up into a William Reid.

Noonan: “It's no easy feat if he's going to back-up into the William Reid to take on Jimmysstar and a few of the other key sprinters that are there.

“You'd think it'd be a small field and he might just get the lead to himself. If it was around Moonee Valley, gee, you'd be giving him a big chance.

“Caulfield might make it a little bit more even, but there's probably not a more airborne horse in the country than him at the moment.

Caluzzi: “Yeah, Jimmysstar’s obviously going to be the horse to beat… But I wouldn't be shocked at all if he (Jigsaw) runs top three.

Noonan: “Yeah, I think top three is right on the agenda.”

Jigsaw is currently $11 with Sportsbet to win the William Reid Stakes on Saturday, but Jimmysstar is the short favourite at $1.75.