An abbreviated winter campaign will be the foundation for what trainer Rick Worthington hopes is a lucrative spring for speedster Golden Sunshine.
The filly is set to run over 1100 metres in a benchmark 85 at Rosehill on Saturday, her first start since her fourth behind Ichihara in the Listed Eskimo Prince Stakes in March.
Golden Sunshine won a barrier trial last Friday week to confirm her readiness for a return to the races.
“She is a horse who does well in the stable and I brought her back from the paddock because she was doing so well,” Worthington said.
“She has had some feet problems throughout her career but we have got them right at the moment and she is ready to race.
“The plan is to give her one or maybe two starts in the winter than freshen her up for the spring.
“I would like to take her to Melbourne but she needs to win a stakes race in Sydney first.”
Golden Sunshine, who is raced by former Australian Jockey Club chairman Ross Smyth-Kirk, created a big impression when she won her first four starts.
She acquitted herself well when pitched into stakes company in the Listed Fireball Quality at Rosehill in March, running second to Catkins.
Her only other start has been in the Eskimo Prince.
With Group Two winner Whitefriars recovering from a wind operation, Golden Sunshine is the major hope of the stable which Worthington is rebuilding after a difficult few months.
The trainer is at the quarter-way mark of a year-long treatment program following two operations to remove lymph nodes after he was found to have intermediate stage cancerous melanoma late last year.
“I had 40 lymph nodes removed and I’m now three months into a 12 month treatment that only 900 people in the world have had,” Worthington said.
“When they took the lymph nodes out they took a lot of muscle as well and I also need regular physio.
“The worst thing about the treatment is the chronic fatigue but it’s a small price to pay for longevity of life and I see a lot of people much worse off than me.”
