NSW trainer Tracey Bartley had his eyes set on winning the Golden Eagle but when the gelding failed to make the final field, he switched his attention to Melbourne.
Kiss Sum heads to the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday after he was an emergency in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill last Saturday.
While the prize money of $3 million for Saturday’s Champions Mile may fall short of the Golden Eagle’s haul, Bartley said success at Flemington would help ease the pain of missing out at Rosehill.
Bartley had geared Kiss Sum’s preparation around the Golden Eagle and had the gelding finished in the top three in the Silver Eagle at Randwick two weeks prior he would have made the final field.
“We were absolutely gutted. It was all about that race,” Bartley said.
“If only he’d run a hole in the race before.”
To compound Bartley’s woes was the forced redraw for the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington last Saturday.
The Chris Waller pair of Hinged and Fangirl were heading to Melbourne, but after unfavourable barriers in the redraw, they ran in Sydney instead.
“They were going to go (to Melbourne) and then they didn’t go,” Bartley said.
“That was our hope, if they had gone, we might have been able to get in, but anyway, that’s life.”
After a solid gallop on Tuesday, Bartley will send Kiss Sum to Melbourne on Thursday night to stay at Peter and Paul Snowden’s Flemington yard where he will be ridden by Nash Rawiller.
Bartley knows what is required to win at Group 1 level with three victories at the highest level and believes Kiss Sum has the capabilities to at some time add to that record.
“His greatest asset is he can switch off and conserve energy,” Bartley said.
“I think if he does that at Flemington and Nash can get on something’s back coming to the corner, he won’t have to flush out straight away because he’s got all that straight.
“He’s going to be great late.”
