Amelia’s Jewel remains ‘not her usual self’ almost two days after the most disappointing run of her career and trainer Simon Miller is hoping blood tests reveal the reason for her poor showing at Caulfield, thus keeping alive hopes of a start in the $10 million Golden Eagle.
The glamour four-year-old has been ruled out of the $5 million Group 1 Cox Plate after her ninth placing in Saturday’s Group 1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
Miller reported on Monday morning that she was recovering, but was still not 100 percent, and he was looking forward to running a fine-tooth comb over her.
“She was a bit quiet this morning, not her usual self,” Miller told RSN927.
“She’s not flat, she’s picking up again, but she’s not where she is (normally).
“There’s just something a little bit out of whack at the moment, so we’ll do some blood test today and figure out what’s going on.”
The Group 1 winner suffered the first defeat of her maiden eastern-states campaign in the Toorak, when under pressure before straightening and beaten 5-1/2 lengths in the race won by Attrition.
The 1600-metre event was her final audition before her major spring goal, either the $5 million Cox Plate (2040m) on October 28 or the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) on November 4, and Miller there was now only hope of contesting one of those races.
“The Cox Plate I’ve ruled out, you can’t go there off a bad run,” Miller said.
“You’re hitting the elite and you’ve got to be on the upward spiral.
“You can’t have a ‘doozy’ like that and think you can go to a Cox Plate and get away with it because they’ll just expose you.
“I’m probably lucky the Eagle is three weeks (away) and not two, so I can just potter around this week and just make sure she gets back on her feed and see what the blood results show this arvo.”
Amelia’s Jewel remains on the second line of betting in Golden Eagle markets, which is now headed by Australian Guineas winner Legarto.
