Spring carnival races beckon for two-year-old Soapbox after she broke through for a win at Gosford on Wednesday.
The Anthony Cummings-trained filly took last start Saturday-class form into the midweek Australian Turf Club fixture and showed there was plenty of upside to her with victory in a 1000m event against her own age group.
Cummings’ son Edward was representing the stable at Gosford and named the Group One Flight Stakes and Group One Thousand Guineas, both over 1600m for fillies, as possible spring targets.
“She’s got to prove that she can get over that trip, she’s built like that, but obviously there are stakes races like the Flight (Stakes) and Thousand Guineas if she’s up to it,” Cummings said.
“But easy does it at the moment and we’ll just wait and see how she comes through it.”
Soapbox, who was having her third start, was partnered by Sydney jockeys’ premiership-winner-in-waiting Hugh Bowman who took his metropolitan season tally to 92-1/2.
Soapbox began brilliantly and Bowman had the filly third in the run before the daughter of Exceed And Excel did the rest in the straight, going on to defeat Agulhas by three quarters of a length with the same margin to third-placed Strada’s Diamond.
Bowman is set to fall short of a century of winners in Sydney this season as he will take a short break after riding at Rosehill on Saturday.
Nash Rawiller, winner of the past two Sydney premierships, rode a winning double including the Gai Waterhouse-trained So Symbolic in the final event.
Brenton Avdulla also notched a double.
So Symbolic was Waterhouse’s only runner at the Gosford program and moved the trainer to 98 Sydney wins for the season.
