Track conditions at Randwick will determine whether Scone conditioner Jeremy Gask runs two in-form stablemates.
Regardless of whether Orbital Express takes her place in the Highway Handicap at Randwick, trainer Jeremy Gask is growing in confidence that the superbly bred filly is going to make her mark.
By top stallion Zoustar out of high-class mare Avoid Lightning, Orbital Express has shown promise in her three-start career, building on a brace of minor placings to break her maiden at Newcastle in a manner Gask found hard to ignore.
After missing the start and settling towards the rear, Orbital Express unleashed a dazzling finish, storming down the outside to claim an unlikely victory.
“That was a big win. I don’t think you see them do that very often and that early in her racing career,” Gask said.
“I didn’t give her much hope at the 400 but she has got a great finish.
“She’s not big, but she has got a beautiful big stride on her. Once she learns to carry herself and travel in races and quicken up, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Gask has accepted with Orbital Express for Saturday’s Highway Handicap (1400m) at Randwick, but he is in two-minds about whether to run her if the track is downgraded to heavy.
Avoid Lightning was a renowned wet track specialist, winning seven of her 11 starts on soft and heavy surfaces, and Gask is almost certain her daughter will also enjoy the conditions.
However, given she is five weeks between runs and extending to 1400m for the first time, he is understandably wary.
“The big thing for me is the rain and how much we get. I’d probably be hesitant if it turned up a bottomless track, first-up at 1400 metres,” Gask said.
“She is only fairly new and she’s still learning, still got some maturing to do and it may just bottom her out.”
Tim’s Principal, a half-brother to Avoid Lightning, is also in doubt to take his place in the final race if conditions worsen.
The seven-year-old has been racing in great heart and finished a brave fourth under a big weight at Newcastle last Saturday after being trapped deep from an outside gate.
“He is flying and he does love a back-up, but again, the track is going to be the worry,” Gask said.
“He handles genuinely soft ground, but I don’t think he wants it too heavy.”
