Trainer Matthew Dale is nervous about Jackpot Queen taking on the boys at Rosehill on Saturday despite her form being franked over the Melbourne spring.
Jackpot Queen is the only horse to have beaten the promising African Pulse, downing him narrowly at Flemington in May.
That colt subsequently returned in the spring to comfortably account for Karuta Queen on Melbourne Cup day.
“The form out of those races is really good,” Dale said.
“She beat African Pulse up the straight and he came out and beat Karuta Queen but our filly has paid for that.
“She’s got topweight against the boys on Saturday. She is a hard filly to place.”
Jackpot Queen was given 58kg when weights were released for Saturday’s Action Business Coach Hcp (1100m) so Dale secured three kilogram-claiming apprentice Andrew Stead.
Stead, formerly based in Melbourne, was aboard for the Flemington win and now he is based in Sydney Dale was happy to give him an opportunity.
“Obviously we had to take some weight off. All her metro wins have been with an apprentice on, one of them being Andrew Stead,” Dale said.
“He had just ridden a double at Caulfield the week before we went down to Flemington with Jackpot Queen.
“That threw him in the mix for the ride and he rode her perfectly so that’s where the association comes from.”
Jackpot Queen has not raced since scoring a second Melbourne victory at Caulfield on July 30.
Dale said she had done well during her spell and was open to improvement.
“She was never an overly-big two-year-old, everything she did she did on heart,” he said.
“But she has grown and furnished and she seems to have come back well.”
Dale’s other concern with Saturday’s race is the distance.
He would have preferred to run her over 1000 metres first-up but added she had done the necessary groundwork to be competitive.
“She has the work under her belt. Ideally, I’d like to run her over 1000 metres first-up but those races are extremely hard to find,” Dale said.
While Jackpot Queen is set to resume in Sydney, her main aims this campaign will again be in Melbourne.
“She is a 1000-metre to 1100-metre horse so we’ve got to travel to the right races with her,” Dale said.
Jackpot Queen will jump from barrier five on Saturday and is proven on wet ground, scoring a win on a heavy track at Kensington in April.
AAP TURF
