The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Lagunanini will be shooting for a rare feat when she lines up at Caulfield.
Lagunanini will be attempting to replicate the deeds of her older brother Mcgaw by winning $1 million The Showdown (1200m) on Saturday.
Both McGaw and Lagunanini entered The Showdown off maiden wins – McGaw at Pakenham, Lagunanini at Sale – and apart from their pedigrees, that is where the similarity ceases.
McGaw was purchased by Emma-Lee and David Browne for $14,000 while Busuttin and Young had to part with $160,000 to secure Lagunanini.
While the price was more than 10 times what the Browne’s paid, it may be a shrewd investment as McGaw has since become a Group 2 winner which will no doubt increase Lagunanini’s value as a broodmare.
“He was very athletic and raw whereas she was solid and looked like a real runner,” Young said.
“We loved her the first time we saw her. She’s got a great body on her, and she’s done nothing wrong since coming into the barn.
“We gave her that first prep and then tipped her out and gave her a bit of a long break.
“The penny has dropped this time and she’s handling the pressure.”
That pressure will now need to transfer to Caulfield on Saturday, but Young said the filly’s professionalism should take her a long way.
“It will be a big day, different atmosphere, but I think she will handle it, no problem,” Young said.
“We can’t question her professionalism. Beau (Mertens) knows her, he won on her, and she’s usually very sensible at the races and trials beforehand.
“She doesn’t get too worked up, but it is a two-year-old race, and you never know what can happen.”
Young said a trip to Caulfield had been considered for a gallop on Tuesday, but they decided to stay home and complete final preparations at Cranbourne.
Lagunanini remains in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill on Saturday week and was an acceptor for the Magic Night Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The filly is also nominated for the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 4 and the Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m) the following week.
“We put her in up in Sydney as well, just in case we drew wide, as we just wanted another option, but we’ll head to Caulfield after getting the ace draw,” Young said.
“There’s Stakes races coming up interstate that may suit her, but we’ll get through Saturday first and see where we go.”
