The Scone Cup is not so much an afterthought as a diversion for Amovatio.
Trainer Chris Waller had planned to send him to Brisbane after his recent Hawkesbury Gold Cup win but decided to give Amovatio his chance in Friday’s Listed race.
“He was originally going to Queensland but it would be arrogant to drive straight past Scone where there is a $200,000 race,” Waller said.
“He has drawn well and is in good form and the race is over a mile (1600m) which suits him.
“He has come through Hawkesbury well so we will see what he can do.”
Amovatio graduated to stakes company less than a year ago, winning the Listed Winter Championship at Flemington in July.
After a spell he returned in October to take out a 1400m Listed race at Caulfield and two starts later ran unplaced in the Group One Emirates Stakes.
His sights were lowered in the autumn and his best performance in three starts before the Hawkesbury Gold Cup was third in the Group Three Newcastle Newmarket run at Rosehill in March.
Amovatio, to again be ridden by apprentice Rory Hutchings, is on the third line of Scone Cup betting at $7 alongside Goldstream with High Midnight the early favourite at $4.60 and Hawkesbury Cup runner-up Mighty Lucky at $6.
The Waller-trained Tales Of Grimm is at $9.50 to defend the race he won in 2015 when trained by the now-disqualified Sam Kavanagh.
At his first start for Waller, Tales Of Grimm was second in the deferred Hawkesbury Gold Cup in June and finished midfield this year.
“He had a long break after that and third-up should be at peak fitness,” Waller said.
