Trainer Matthew Smith is confident Icebreaker can keep improving this campaign, even if the gelding doesn’t return a winner first-up at Rosehill.
Icebreaker enjoyed a successful previous prep, winning three straight mile races at Canberra, and is set to resume in Saturday’s Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m).
Smith noted that while 1400m is short of his ideal distance, his freshness and affinity for wet conditions will make him a genuine threat.
“He has won three in a row down in Canberra and he likes wet tracks,” Smith said.
“He will win in town. I don’t know if Rosehill will be his track because he gets back and runs on, but it’s a nice race to kick him off in.
“There is a mile race at Warwick Farm a couple of weeks later and that will be perfect for him.”
Smith is aiming Icebreaker towards a start in either the Big Dance or Little Dance on Melbourne Cup day at Randwick.
“We will try to knock over a race like a Nowra Cup and get him qualified,” he said.
Meanwhile, Smith will also saddle up True Marvel in the Brisbane Cup (3200m) at Eagle Farm, confident after his solid fourth in the Sandown Cup (3200m).
“He is a nine-year-old but he’s flying,” Smith said.
“His run the other day was fantastic at Sandown. He ran fourth but he could have easily won, they just went slow.”
“He has an amazing two-mile record. He has run second in a Sydney Cup (in 2023), he’s run third in a Brisbane Cup (2023) and second in a Sandown Cup (2021).”