The Ipswich Cup will be without equal top weight Full Of Spirit after trainer Peter Moody decided to leave the mare in Sydney to run at Rosehill on Saturday.
Full Of Spirit will miss the Ipswich Cup and run at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
While Ironstein, also weighted on top with 58kgs, has been scratched from the same race at Rosehill to run in the Listed $175,000 Channel 7 Ipswich Cup (2150m) at Ipswich.
Full Of Spirit and Ironstein were both acceptors in the $85,000 Freshmark Handicap over 2000m and with the prospect of a rain affected track, trainer Gerald Ryan opted to travel to Queensland with Ironstein.
While a wide barrier draw at Ipswich, fourteen out of sixteen, could have swayed Moody to start Full Of Spirit at Rosehill.
Moody’s Sydney foreman Claire Cunningham is happy the mare is staying home and can see her not far away from the winner’s stall.
Moody has added blinkers to Full Of Spirit who has been placed at her last two starts and Cunningham is hoping the gear change will be enough to get her across the line.
“She’s got the blinkers on on Saturday. We just thought she wasn’t quite finishing off as well as we expected,” Cunningham told AAP.
“She has been looming up on the turn and while she hasn’t been far off she just needs that little bit more. Hopefully the blinkers will help.
“She has also been crying out for 2000 metres and she gets it on Saturday.”
The Flying Spur mare did the bulk of her early racing in New Zealand but has been under the care of Moody this preparation.
From four starts for Moody, Full Of Spirit was out of the placings when ninth to Cosmic Endeavour in the Group 2 $300,000 Drummond Golf Sapphire Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 19 and sixth to Leebaz in the Group 3 $150,000 Panthers Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) at Hawkesbury May 3.
Then Full Of Spirit showed some improvement and was beaten a length when second to Cameo in the Listed $200,000 Emirates Park Scone Cup (1600m) at Scone on May 16 and then third to Transonic in the $85,000 Eremein Handicap (1800m) at Rosehill on May 31.
Local Ipswich Cup hope Brave Ali can continue trainer Tony Gollan’s good run of late and could add another feature race win to his so far successful Winter Carnival.
Gollan won the Group 1 $650,000 James Boag’s Premium Doomben 10000 (1350m) at Doomben on May 24 with Spirit Of Boom beating stablemate Temple Of Boom.
And Temple Of Boom then went down narrowly to River Lad when second in the Group 1 $1.36m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm last weekend.
Brave Ali has the right form on the board with a hat trick of wins at Doomben and Eagle Farm before a last start third to Pretty Pins in the Group 3 $125,000 Landfill Logistics Chairman’s Handicap (2000m) at Doomben on May 10.
