Trainer Paul Preusker believes Group 3 winner Steparty is in career-best form ahead of his biggest challenge yet in the $2 million Group 2 The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
The son of Artie Schiller made a stunning start to his career with five consecutive wins, including victory in the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m).
However, his winning streak ended in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) last year, where he finished behind Griff.
Despite going winless in his last ten starts, Steparty has shown strong form, most recently placing third in the Group 2 The Damien Oliver (1400m), the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), and The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange.
Preusker is confident the four-year-old is primed for a peak performance in The Ingham.
“I think he’s right there now,” Preusker told Racing.com.
“It ended up a bit tricky (in The Gong), the way the track was playing as he got shuffled back and had to go down the slow side.
“The effort was ten out of ten from the horse, and he was given a great ride by Blaike McDougall.
“It’s been a bit of a tricky map with his programming early. I just needed to get him to the races to bring him up.
“A few of the colt traits are slowly starting to settle, and he’s giving jockeys a better ride.”
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