Lie Direct is an up-and-coming stayer, but his promise still might not be enough to cope with the strength of a strong interstate challenge at Rosehill on Saturday.
Lie Direct is one of 14 nominations for the Significant Stakes, a 1900m test for two and three-year-olds that has attracted five Victorian entries.
Two of the interstate horses, It’s About You and Got You Double, come out of the Peter Moody stable and their presence alone is enough for Lie Direct’s trainer to at least consider an easier option.
“I’m wary of both horses of Peter Moody’s and Anthony Cummings’s filly (Skyline Blush) looks well in at the set weights,” Steve Englebrecht said.
“Whereas my horse is disadvantaged, I thought.
“I’ve also got him nominated for a race at Kembla Grange but I’ll probably accept for both races and see how Rosehill turns out.”
Lie Direct is a last-start Kembla Grange winner but Englebrecht is certain the three-year-old will make a name for himself in the city once he matures.
He has already been given his chance in a Group One race early in the season when he ran in the Spring Champion Stakes, won in record time by Hampton Court.
“We’ve always had a good opinion of him but we’ve just had to wait for the penny to drop,” Englebrecht said.
“I’ve learnt a fair bit about him this prep and I think next preparation he’ll win a reasonable race for us.”
It’s About You is the highest-rated entry after recent wins at Cranbourne, Morphettville and Mornington before a last-start second to Radical at Moonee Valley.
Got You Double resumed after a Sydney campaign to win at Bendigo before graduating to city midweek grade in beating The Terricks at Flemington.
Moody’s fellow Caulfield trainer Clinton McDonald has nominated two three-year-old fillies in Ginali and Nightspun while Stephen Theodore has entered Guilty As Charged from his Cranbourne stable.
Tulloch Lodge import Bonfire heads the weights for the ATC Winter Cup with 59kg ahead of Bagman (58kg) and Ipswich Cup winner Danchai (55.5kg).
