Chris Waller will rely on Permit to deliver one of the few off-season staying features missing from his resume with his other three McKell Cup entries likely to go north and south on Saturday.
Moriarty and Studio are earmarked for the Premier’s Cup (2200m) at Doomben in Brisbane while Coup Acclaim is Melbourne bound for a 2400m benchmark race at Caulfield.
The Listed W J McKell Cup (2400m) is the feature at Randwick and a race that has eluded Sydney’s premier trainer.
It is also a race that gave him a taste of the future when he brought Party Belle over from New Zealand in 1999 to run third behind Praise Indeed.
The following year the fledgling trainer made the permanent move to Sydney and is now on target to set a new standard for the number of winners in a season as he powers to his third successive premiership.
“At the moment Permit will be our only McKell Cup runner,” Waller said.
“Moriarty and Studio are most likely to go to Brisbane and Coup Acclaim to the 2400 metre race at Caulfield.”
The Group Three Premier’s Cup is a lead-up to the Group Two Brisbane Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm two weeks later.
Moriarty won the Lord Mayor’s Cup on May 11 as part of a five-win haul for Waller at Rosehill.
The trainer is still undecided whether two-year-old Zoustar will head to the Group Two BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1350m) at Doomben or stay home for the two-year-old race over 1200m at Randwick.
“He is well suited to the race in Sydney at set weights and penalties in his own back yard,” Waller said.
“I think he can come back in the spring and be a serious sprinter and I’m not sure if going to Brisbane for the Sires and the JJ Atkins is the right thing to do.
“It’s something we’ll think about over the next few days.”
