Woolly Libertad's Golden Glow.
Annabel Neasham has sounded an ominous warning to the three-year-old bunch heading toward next month's $1m Golden Rose after a "woolly" Libertad made it three from three with a dominant Group 3 $250,000 Smithfield RSL San Domenico Stakes (1100m) win.
Libertad will take the traditional path to the Group 1 and appear next in the Group 2 Run To The Rose (1200m) in two weeks and Neasham said he'll be a much fitter horse come that day.
Chad Schofield managed to offset an outside gate on the colt and once that happened Neasham was confident he'd prevail, even knowing there is improvement to come.
"He just slotted into that spot and once we were there it was going to take a tough one to beat him but the exciting thing with him is he is still pretty woolly in the coat,'' Neasham said.
"When I was saddling him up he had tufts of hair coming out of him.
"From the tricky draw that was a masterstroke from Chad to end up in that spot. The plan was just to ride the horse. We didn't know really what to do from the gate. He jumped really well. I thought we would be further back than we were."
Schofield had said during the week there was significant upside to come and it was evident pre-race when Libertad appeared very fresh.
"As a two year old he has actually been scratched a few times behind the gates so he has really turned the corner and was really good today,'' he said.
"It's exciting because I know there is a lot of improvement there."
The colt is $15 with TAB in the Golden Rose behind Golden Slipper winner Shinzo, who he will likely meet in the Run To The Rose.
Up & Comer Encap Excites Portelli
There's no way Gary Portelli will be going back to a maiden with talented three-year-old Encap after his slashing third in the Group 3 $250,000 CMNL Up & Coming Stakes (1300m) – he's adamant the gelding has a big win in him.
The "blue team's" Tom Kitten may have got the better of Portelli's duo, with Kintyre narrowly denied in second, and while disappointed to taste defeat he said their efforts vindicated his opinion of them.
"It was good to see both horses racing at this level both put in great runs,'' Portelli said.
Encap clocked 33.34 for his last 600m (Punter's Intelligence), the fastest of the race, and his last 200m of 11.11 was a length faster than anything – and he had to overcome some trouble to get into the clear.
Portelli said both horses earned the right to chase better races in the spring and in Encap's case he sees no reason to go chasing a maiden win when he's proven he's up to the grade.
"He's got a lot to learn but he's learning and what we do know is he's got a massive turn of foot when we need it,'' he said.
"I think there's a good win in him somewhere.
"Why would I go back in grade, he was the best run in the race. He's the horse to follow no doubt. We'll step up in grade, find another race for him, and go from there."
Meanwhile, James Cummings is keen to keep the Golden Rose (1400m) on the table for Tom Kitten after his impressive win though it appears the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) is within his reach.
Tom Kitten won the Fernhill over the Randwick mile earlier this year and finished fourth in the Champagne Stakes. He's currently $6 in the Spring Champion and $15 in the Golden Rose.
"We will make sure that he is still in the (Golden Rose) noms,'' Cummings said.
"It's a month away. We will keep those races in mind. He probably has got a bit to do to convince me that he is going to be quick enough at seven against those horses but you never know.
"High pressure at seven furlongs can throw up some interesting things."
Baker Dancing On To Dubbo
With Wategos safely in Big Dance contention, trainer Bjorn Baker is setting his sights on the Dubbo Cup in an attempt to add to his stable's squad for the $3 million feature in November.
The gelding became just the sixth metropolitan trained horse to win a Big Dance eligible cup for the 2023 edition when he ran out an easy winner of the Murwillumbah Cup on Friday.
Baker said Wategos arrives back to his Warwick Farm stable on Monday and it's likely he'll have no more than two runs leading into the Big Dance.
"We'll have a good look at him when he arrives, we can give him one to two weeks off then give it a good think,'' he said.
"It's worked out well, he did a lot of his early racing in the country and is a big tough gelding.
"He's come back and put it together this preparation and he can get a good mile. He's still on the upward scale and goes into the Big Dance with a good profile."
The next Big Dance country cup is next month's Dubbo Cup (1600m) on September 10 and Baker said the in-form Amor Victorious is likely heading that way along with Battleton, who ran fourth at Murwillumbah.
Secret Ready For Concorde Lift Off
Godolphin's leading TAB Everest hopeful In Secret showed she's ready to test out evergreen sprinters Nature Strip and Eduardo in next Saturday's Concorde Stakes with a race day gallop at Rosehill.
Trainer James Cummings confirmed the four-year-old will be nominated for the $1 million Group 3 sprint over 1000m at Randwick and was more than happy with what he saw from the mare.
With Zac Lloyd, likely rider in the Concorde, on board for the leisurely gallop, In Secret clocked 53.09 for the 800m and certainly wasn't out to break a sweat.
"Her coat still hasn't quite come through yet,'' Cummings said.
"We brought her out here for a look around and ease her into the campaign so it'll be all good for next weekend.
"Both trials have been on quite soft ground and we got a chance to gallop on a good 4 in the afternoon instead of a heavy dew in the morning. I think she will take some benefit from that."
In Secret is an $11 chance in TAB's pre-noms Everest market. Traditionally, Godolphin waits until the week of the Everest to announce their runner but if she was to knock over Nature Strip it would be a good advertisement to start in the $20 million race.
Lloyd was more than satisfied with how the mare felt in the gallop.
"She went about her work as you'd expect a horse like her to go about it. It was nice working gallop from the half mile,'' he said.
