Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign will have one more trial before stepping out for her first Spring Carnival appearance in the Group 1 $500,000 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on September 29.
She Will Reign, above, will have one more barrier trial before running in the Moir Stakes at The Valley. Photo by Steve Hart.
She Will Reign had her first public outing today in an 800m Warwick Farm barrier trial since winning the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 18, finishing a head second to stablemate Single Bullet.
Golden Slipper winning jockey Ben Melham had She Will Reign under a strong hold all the way and trainer Gary Portelli was more than pleased with the performance.
“It was exactly what we wanted to see,” Portelli said after the trial.
“We weren’t out to have a hard gallop with the filly today. It was more a stretch of the legs and just to get her back into the routine.
“Ben said she felt like she’s strengthened, she’s got wider through the chest and bigger through the neck.
“She gave him an amazing feeling, he said that he came to the corner with a lap full of horse and he would have given them the slip around the corner if it had been a race.
“While the other colt (Single Bullet) made it interesting I’m not sure that if it had been under race conditions, that he could have got that close to her.”
She Will Reign has already secured a slot in the $10m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick on October 14 and is on the second line of betting at $6 with Ladbrokes.com.au behind the Team Hawkes trained Chautauqua who is the $4.60 favourite.
Melham will have to relinquish the ride in the Moir Stakes to Melbourne’s premiership winning jockey Craig Williams because he will be unable to get down to the 50kg that the three year old filly will be asked to carry under the weight for age scale.
“The Everest will be her Grand Final and we are likely to pull up stumps after that,” Portelli said.
“Benny’s working hard to get down to 51 but Craig will ride her first-up and then he’s there as a back-up if it’s impossible for Ben.”
Early market order for the 2017 The Everest at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4.60 Chautauqua, $6 She Will Reign, $11 English, Houtzen, Vega Magic, $13 Menari, Russian Revolution, $15 Spieth, Redkirk Warrior, $17 Battaash, Brave Smash, Redzel, $21 Pariah,, $26 Clearly Innocent, Limato, Fell Swoop, Terravista, $33 Bound For Nowhere, $34 Jukebox, Black Heart Bart, Global Glamour, Le Romain, $41 Derryn, Omei Sword, $51 or better the rest.
