New Zealand Group One-winning jockey Alysha Collett will be out to add to her tally when she takes two key lightweight rides on Epsom Handicap day at Randwick.
Collett has been booked for Swiftfalcon in the $1.5 million Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) for Team Hawkes, and for Don Diego De Vega in the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) for Annabel and Rob Archibald.
The accomplished hoop has now ridden in 17 Australian majors for two placings and is edging closer to a breakthrough top-level victory in her adopted home city.
“The last four or five years I’ve fortunately had really good opportunities in Group Ones and been exposed to them, which is really nice,” Collett said. “It’s also getting the right opportunities. This year I’ve got really good support which is the main thing. It has been a slow battle but things are going really well.”
Swiftfalcon will sport blinkers for the first time in the Epsom and is currently rated a $15 chance, while Don Diego De Vega is a $34 outsider in the Metropolitan.
A Grafton Cup winner in July, Don Diego De Vega was slow away in the Newcastle Cup after rearing at the start but still made late ground to finish sixth behind equal Metropolitan favourite Soul Of Spain. Trainer Annabel Archibald said his fitness wasn’t an issue despite the two-month gap between runs. “He only had a couple of weeks off after the Grafton Cup so there is loads of residual there,” she said. “Although he missed the start at Newcastle, it was probably the ideal lead-up.”
Collett was also pleased with the import’s performance, despite the mishap. “It was a bit of a pickle with the barriers. He got further back than anticipated but his work to the line was beautifully for a first-up run,” she said.
The rider has already struck spring form, winning the Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) on With Your Blessing and the Premier’s Cup (2000m) with Nellie Leylax for the Archibalds. On Saturday she has five mounts, including Legaselli for John Thompson in the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m).
Punters can follow Alysha Collett’s rides in the Epsom Handicap and Metropolitan through Australia’s top betting sites and most trusted online bookmakers.
