The obvious merit in Darci Be Good’s Villiers Stakes placing is the reason for jockey Nathan Berry’s one concern about the horse’s Tattersalls Club Cup chances.
Stranded on limb close to the speed after jumping from a wide barrier, Darci Be Good turned in arguably the run of the race in the Group Two Villiers (1600m) at Warwick Farm on December 22.
In spite of the difficult passage, Darci Be Good fought it out to take the minor placing to All Legal.
He steps up to 2000m at Rosehill on Tuesday with Berry confident the gelding only has to reproduce his Villiers effort to start the new year on a winning note.
“Personally I think if he drew a (good) barrier he would have won the Villiers,” the jockey said.
“If you take the form out of that race going into Tuesday you’d think he just wins. But sometimes the horse is hard to catch.
“If there’s one little worry I think it’s the 10-day back up because he had such a tough run the other day.
“He’s a tough customer though so I’ll just put that in the back of my mind.”
Darci Be Good is being shaded for favouritism by the Peter Moody-trained Highly Recommended who was sixth in the Villiers.
Monton steps up to 2000m for the first time and holds the third line of betting.
The Villiers Stakes proved a hard-luck story for the Murray family with Bede Murray-trained Darci Be Good edged out for second by the Paul Murray-trained Alma’s Fury.
Alma’s Fury has already showed the Villiers form to be strong with victory in the Listed Bernborough Handicap (1600m) in Brisbane on Saturday.
Ron Quinton said the race was the perfect chance to test Monton over the distance on the back of his ninth in the Villiers.
“He’s only had a couple of runs and there’s nothing else left for him so we’ll have a throw at the stumps and then he’ll have a let-up before coming back for the autumn,” Quinton said.
Quinton believes barrier one will be an asset in helping Monton get the trip.
“He just didn’t get cover quickly enough in the Villiers and wanted to race a bit too much,” he said.
“He should be able to get cover very quickly from barrier one and then he should switch off.”
