Top mare Kimochi will return to her ideal distance of 1400m on Saturday as she leads Gary Portelli’s charge at the final Group 1 meeting of the Sydney autumn carnival.
The four-year-old is set to line up in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes at Randwick, a race Portelli has long earmarked for her this campaign.
The All-Aged Stakes and the Champagne Stakes (1600m) for juveniles will round out the Group 1 racing during the Sydney autumn season.
Kimochi resumed with a strong second in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) and followed that with a determined fifth in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), where she was caught wide throughout in a high-class field.
Portelli said the All-Aged Stakes had been a key goal for Kimochi, who scored her first Group 1 win over this trip last spring in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield.
“She’s come through the run well (in the TJ Smith) and she’s in good order,” Portelli said.
“It’s a perfect preparation, she had a month between runs from first-up to second-up and two weeks to the third-up run.
“I’m pretty happy with her but it’s a pretty tough race.”
The trainer is hopeful of a better draw for Kimochi this time around after she jumped from the outside in the TJ Smith Stakes with Nash Rawiller in the saddle.
“It was a good run,” Portelli said.
“She was trapped three-wide and just kept battling away. Nash was pretty confident that had we drawn a better gate we would have got a better result.
“The 1400m is a perfect distance for her. It’s always been a race we thought would be a perfect race for her over the seven furlongs at Randwick but it’s going to be a strong All-Aged Stakes. We know what we’re up against but she’ll run well if she draws well.”
Also representing Portelli at Randwick on Saturday will be Encap, who ran a bold race to finish third in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), charging through the pack late.
Encap will be tested over 2000m for the first time in the Group 3 JRA Plate (2000m), with Portelli keen to use the run as a guide toward upcoming Queensland features.
“We’ve always been wanting to try him at 2000m and he’s in such good order that I think now is the time to try,” Portelli said.
Encap’s performance will determine whether he heads north for the Hollindale Stakes (1800m) and Doomben Cup (2000m), or is freshened up for a tilt at the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).