In-form mare Greysful Glamour has come through her Villiers Stakes victory in top order and will press on to the Summer Cup at Randwick on Boxing Day.
Summer Cup Target For Villiers Winner
Villiers Stakes winner Greysful Glamour is on track to line up in the Summer Cup where she will attempt a feat not achieved for 15 years.
The last horse to claim the Villiers Stakes-Summer Cup double was Aqua D’Amore in 2005 when the Cup was staged over 2400 metres.
No horse has won both races since the Boxing Day feature was reduced to 2000 metres in 2013.
The only potential hurdle to Greysful Glamour heading to Randwick is Sydney’s weather.
The mare is a duffer on rain-affected ground so trainer Mark Newnham will be closely monitoring the track conditions in the lead up to Saturday’s feature race.
“At this stage she will go to the Summer Cup, weather permitting,” Newnham said.
“She is bouncing around and while she is in this form, we might as well keep her going.”
If the rain does come, Newnham is likely to give Greysful Glamour a short break and reset towards an autumn campaign.
While her best form during the spring and summer was in Sydney, Greysful Glamour is also proven in Melbourne and Newnham will consider options in both cities.
As the Villiers Stakes winner, the free-bowling grey is gifted an automatic start in the Doncaster Mile and Newnham has not ruled out a start in the Group One.
“I’ll enter her for everything. There are a lot of nice mares races and she has already got a free kick into the Doncaster,” he said.
“We are dictated by the weather with her.”
Stablemate Spirit Ridge is also in the mix for the Group Three Summer Cup, which has attracted 13 nominations.
Breeders’ Plate winner Shaquero heads entries for Saturday’s two-year-old race at Randwick as he prepares to kick off his Magic Millions preparation.
The Chris Waller-trained youngster scored a recent barrier trial win at Canterbury and is the $4.50 favourite for the Gold Coast race, ahead of stablemate and Wyong Magic Millions winner She’s All Class.