Gig’s winter preparation doesn’t fit the mould of past Bletchingly Stakes winners.
But trainer Shawn Mathrick is banking on pressure in front to give the mare a chance at an upset in the Group Three sprint.
The last-start Listed Winter Championship third placegetter is dropping from 1600m two weeks ago to contest Saturday’s Bletchingly Stakes over 1200m at Caulfield.
Gog winning the Riverside Handicap
No winner of the Bletchingly has dropped in distance from its previous start unless it was resuming from a spell or a six-week let-up.
Mathrick has freshened Gig since her Flemington run and believes she is better suited over shorter distances than 1600m.
“The query is going to be coming back from the mile to the 1200 metres but she is well,” Mathrick said.
“We think she is a 1200 to 1400-metre horse anyway. We stretched her out to the mile and it didn’t work as well as we thought. She still ran super but she just didn’t have that ping that she has off a quicker speed.”
Talented colt Lord Of The Sky dominates betting for the Bletchingly after trouncing his rivals by 4-1/2 lengths in the Group Three Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) last start.
He is the $1.65 favourite in an eight-horse field with Gig rated a $15 chance.
Mathrick is hoping Lord Of The Sky doesn’t get his own way in front.
“I reckon there is a couple of horses that will want to go forward, and if she (Gig) keeps running the way she has been running she will give it a good shake,” he said.
Robbie Laing trained a winning double at Caulfield on Wednesday and can’t fault Lord Of The Sky who has won five of his six starts at the track and steps to 1200m for the first time.
“It is the best he has been,” Laing said.
