Trainer Mitch Freedman confessed to some wavering last week concerning his decision to bypass a Group 1 race for his star sprinter, Skybird.
The $2 million Manikato Stakes, which had been considered as a potential second-up run for Skybird, did not end up being run on the soft track that seemed probable midway through the week, allowing Jimmysstar to easily defeat his rivals.
With the benefit of hindsight, Freedman was pleased he kept Skybird away from a clash with that established sprinter and is now eager to debut her in this Saturday’s $300,000 Group 2 Gilgai Stakes at Flemington. Heavy rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday, indicating the track is likely to be wet.
“We were disappointed when the rain was coming last week and thought it might have been a wet track, but as it turned out they raced on a good track and the rail was out a long way,” Freedman commented.
“She’s going to get in there with a nice weight on Saturday and we like the set-up of going back to Flemington with her.”
The Gilgai Stakes, in which Skybird will carry the 55kg limit weight, represents her first return to Flemington since her career-defining victory on a Soft 7 track in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) in February last year.
“Injury, circumstance and a number of different things,” Freedman stated when asked about her absence from Flemington.
“But we’re looking forward to getting her back there. The 1200 is probably at the upper end of her preferred trip, but if she gets the right sort of run she’ll run it out strongly.”
Skybird enters the Gilgai Stakes second-up from the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m), where she raced closer to the speed than is her custom and battled on to finish sixth, 3-1/4 lengths behind My Gladiola. Freedman was satisfied with her effort in an 850m Ararat jumpout win last Thursday.
“She was getting a bit gross on me at home and I couldn’t do too much more with her, so we just wanted to give her a stimulating piece of work and a trip away from home and it seems to have done the job,” he said.
Skybird is the current early favourite for the Gilgai Stakes, a field that also includes Oakleigh Plate runner-up Hedged, Perth visitor Smooth Chino, and last year’s winner War Machine. You can find the latest racing odds at Australian betting sites.
