Progressive stayer Piggyback has put herself in contention for a Group One, weight-for-age assignment this autumn with a stylish victory in the Parramatta Cup at Rosehill.
Johann Gerard-Dubord, assistant to trainer Ciaron Maher, said several options were on the table for the five-year-old, including the Tancred Stakes (2400m) at the same venue on March 28.
“There is the Randwick City Stakes in two weeks. Long-term, there is the Chairman’s Handicap and Sydney Cup,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“But she likes Rosehill, so a race like the Tancred would have to be considered now.
“She had no weight today, so it’s a bit different, weight-for-age (in the Tancred Stakes), but she stays, and we don’t know how much better she can be.”
Dylan Gibbons allowed Piggyback ($3.10 fav) to find her feet early and produced her with a well-time run to down Bois D’Argent ($61) by a short neck with Travolta ($4.20) another half-neck away third.
The winning hoop said he had to resist the urge to take up a handier position, trusting the advice of connections that she was better ridden more quietly.
“Before I chatted to the team, I thought this was going to be pretty simple, just put her in the box seat and ride her like a good thing,” Gibbons said.
“But the team knows this mare so well, and they told me she appreciates being back that couple of pairs, then being given the chance to finish off.
“It took everything in me not to give her a squeeze early and have her too close.”
Gibbons added that Piggyback reminded him of Maher’s 2023 Sydney Cup winner Explosive Jack and like him, had the attributes to measure up to the two-mile feature.
“I think she will run 3200m. She has a great attitude, she has that same big, gangly action of Explosive Jack. She settles well, and she is trained by the same camp, so she is in the right hands,” Gibbons said.
Piggyback has shown potential throughout her career, but Gerard-Dubord said a hit-and-run trip to Queensland last spring was the making of her.
“She did really well last prep, especially towards the end of it,” he said.
“She went to Brisbane and the trip away, mentally she had to take it up that next level, and on the back of that she won the Colin Stephen Quality.
“She is still on the way up.”
