The minor placegetters from the Big Dance remain in contention to back-up in the $2 million Five Diamonds at Rosehill with Ciaron Maher paying up for both Vivy Air and Lugh at acceptance time.
The pair formed part of a stable trifecta in Tuesday’s feature won by high profile barn mate Gringotts, and Maher’s assistant trainer Jo Gerard-Dubord confirmed both could step out again on Saturday pending their respective recoveries during the week.
Vivy Air took out the Big Dance Wild Card at Randwick two starts ago before finishing runner-up in the Melbourne Cup Day race for the second year in succession, and Gerard-Dubord said she was robust enough to cope with a quick turnaround.
“She is tough,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“She is very laidback, she has a good constitution and is a good ‘doer’.
“The 1800 metres will only suit her, and mares in form, there is nothing like it.
“Lugh is the same, as long as he pulls up well.”
Lugh was having just his ninth start in the Big Dance (1600m) and held on gamely after leading.
The five-year-old spent 15 months on the sidelines following his unplaced effort behind Riff Rocket in the Super Impose Stakes (1800m) in 2023 but has bounced back to win three of his subsequent six appearances.
Gerard-Dubord says Lugh will make his own luck on pace and deserves a shot at another rich feature.
“He had to go forward and do a bit of work, and he was very tough,” Gerard-Dubord said of the horse’s Big Dance performance.
“He keeps improving and he is very lightly raced.”
In-form Queenslander Transatlantic heads the field of 14 for the Five Diamonds (1800m), which boasts an international flavour this year with the addition of the William Haggas-trained Bullet Point to be ridden by Cieren Fallon.
Haggas and Fallon combined to claim last year’s Golden Eagle with Lake Forest and Bullet Point is the British jockey’s only ride.
