Shaune Ritchie is preparing to take his chances in Melbourne with his talented five-year-old Let Her Rip.
The Cambridge trainer is looking further afield after the daughter of Rip Van Winkle was balloted out and denied a crack at last Saturday’s Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy at Hastings.
He has now put Plan B in place and Let Her Rip will cross the Tasman and attempt to add to the stable’s record in the Let’s Elope Stakes on September 16. Ritchie won the Group Two event at Flemington in 2012 with Zurella.
“Let Her Rip will have a quiet trial at Cambridge on Thursday and as long as she comes through that well she’s booked on a flight to Melbourne the following Wednesday,” Ritchie said.“The good thing about that is we can have a look at the nominations on Monday and see where we are and what the track conditions might be.”
Let Her Rip has an excellent fresh record, which Ritchie is mindful of.“We don’t want to waste that first run – it’s usually her best one,” he said. “The Let’s Elope is set weights and penalties and we believe it’s a race within her range.”
Let Her Rip has won five of her 17 starts and she hasn’t raced since she won the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes in May.The form out of the race has held up well, with runner-up New York Minute placing in Group Three and Listed company at her next two runs while Underthemoonlight was third.
She subsequently won the Listed Tauranga Classic, the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate and ran third in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy.