Patinack Farm numbers for Brisbane’s first black type two-year-old races of the season will hinge on Tuesday morning trackwork.
Trainer John Thompson has five fillies nominated for the Calaway Gal Stakes and three colts for the Phelan Ready Stakes.
“John wants to see them work before deciding on which ones he is running,” Patinack’s racing manager Robyn Hartney said.
Of the entries for the Listed races on Saturday, Casino Prince filly Sookie and Nechita, a daughter of Fastnet Rock, command most interest.
They played starring roles in barrier trials at Doomben last week with Sookie accounting for Snipzu, the Liam Birchley-trained filly who is unbeaten in two starts since her debut second in the Gimcrack Stakes at Randwick in October.
Sookie ran the last 600m of the 810m trial in 33.73s – a time superior to the promising four-year-old Rocker who was then beaten in a photo at Rosehill on Saturday.
“Taking Rocker as a comparison, Sookie’s last 600 (metres) was pretty good,” Hartney said.
Both 1000m two-year-old races will be restricted to 12 runners because of concerns over a patch of ground 13m out from the fence near the 600m mark.
The area has been renovated but a meeting between chief steward Wade Birch, Brisbane Race Club chief executive Stephen Ferguson and leading jockeys resolved to leave the field size at 12.
Connections of Magic Millions-bound horses engaged in the Calaway Gal Stakes will be sweating on the ballot ahead of Wednesday’s acceptances after 23 nominations were received on Monday.
There were 14 nominations for the Phelan Ready Stakes, headed by last month’s brilliant debut winner Sizzling.
Eagle Farm will host four stakes races on Saturday with the $100,000 Gold Edition Plate and the Just Now Quality boosting the meeting.
Three Sydneysiders have been entered for the Just Now – a Listed race for fillies and mares.
Premier trainer Chris Waller has nominated Dystopia and We Betcha while the Hawkes family training partnership has entered Saturday’s Rosehill winner Embark.
AAP TURF
