It is the morning of Day 2 of The Championships in Sydney, and Suavito has settled in nicely at Randwick in preparation for today’s Group 1 Coolmore Legacy Stakes (Queen of the Turf Stakes).
Thursday morning, after arriving from Melbourne overnight, she was a little excited about her trip away. But she was very relaxed and comfortable later in the day and throughout Friday. She trotted and cantered around on the sand track again on Friday and Saturday mornings. She has picked up where she left off in Melbourne, following her good track work performance on Tuesday morning at Flemington. Here she is enjoying her breakfast!
We read with interest Timeform’s comments (via Gary Crispe, Racing and Sports) on the Queen of the Turf, which summarises how we feel about her chances.
“Suavito is twice a winner at Group 1 level, both times in races open to all comers. She is an underrated mare who looks well placed attacking this race back against the mares.
She won the Orr Stakes to start her campaign and was placed in the Futurity – the same path that Typhoon Tracey and More Joyous took towards the Queen of the Turf – though she arrived with little fanfare.
She has the peak Timeform rating in the field and is not one to be dismissed lightly. She is no stranger to the Randwick mile either, having run a good seventh in the wrong part of the track in last year’s Doncaster.”
It is also pleasing to see the absence of rain in Sydney late this week, The track rating is currently Soft 6, Penetrometer 5.58, with only 0.4mm of rain over the last 24 hours. So we hope this is good enough for Suavito to show off her best to Sydney.
Over in Adelaide, Exclusive Lass is preparing for her raid on an Adelaide’s stakes race – the Listed Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee Manihi Classic.
We were a little surprised by the side of the field, and expected a smaller field for Exclusive Lass to compete against. But we believe she is going to be very competitive in this race, aided by a nice midfield barrier (9) and being on the minimum weight (like much the field however).
We are pleased that Linda Meech accepted the ride, and the plan is to try and avoid leading. She has just been run down her last two starts in good company, arguably stronger company than today. If she can settle just off the leaders, this mare has the turn of foot to peel off heels, take gaps and finish strongly.
Unfortunately this morning, Desert Jeuney has pulled up with a slight lameness, so he misses out on his chance in the 1600m handicap at Sandown. Disappointing, as he has been working solidly and today’s race was very suitable for him.