Trainer Gary Portelli heads into Randwick with rising confidence after a sharp gallop and the booking of James McDonald boosted hopes for Queen Of Clubs in the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m).
Portelli admits the filly may be outsprinted over the shorter trip but believes she has the class to surprise. “Her trackwork on Tuesday was a Group One performance gallop,” Portelli said. “She worked with Encap, matched motors with him if not had his measure. They ran really good time on the Polytrack so I’m going to the race pretty excited. I doubt she is a 1200-metre horse but the heavy track might work with her stamina.”
Securing McDonald’s services has added to Portelli’s optimism. The champion hoop rode her in a recent Warwick Farm trial, and Portelli initially considered a Midway Handicap start just to retain him. “I rang his manager to see if he could ride her, thinking he probably wouldn’t want to ride her in the Silver Shadow but that there was a Midway on the same day and maybe if I started her in the Midway I might get ‘J Mac’ to stick with her,” Portelli said. “His manager said, ‘don’t worry about the Midway, he will ride her in the Silver Shadow’. If she can run well and give him a good feel, the Flight Stakes is the race we earmarked for her as a two-year-old with her pedigree.”
Stablemate Encap also returns on Saturday in the Show County Quality (1200m), though Portelli is wary of the conditions. The Doncaster Mile placegetter failed in the All Aged Stakes (1400m) on heavy ground last season, but Portelli said the effort was inconclusive. “They called the meeting off after that race and he was at the end of his campaign so there’s a question mark over whether he was at his best at that point,” Portelli said. “Maybe we just run and see. He just needs to race. He’s too well.”
Nash Rawiller will ride Encap, who is being set for a defence of the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) next month.