Adelaide trainer Leon Macdonald admits it’s hard to compare South Australian form to the eastern states but his record shows he has worked it out pretty well in the past.
He believes Go Indy Go has earned her chance at the Group One Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday and will get another pointer after she works at the track on Tuesday.
Go Indy Go won the Group Three SA Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) to book her trip to Sydney which she handled with ease.
“She travelled over by float with a stop-over at Caulfield and has settled in well,” Macdonald said.
“She is pretty relaxed and doesn’t do much wrong.
“It is hard to line her up and see where she fits. It’s a question of how good she is and how good they are.
“But she has earned the chance at the Group One.”
Go Indy Go registered two second placings in stakes races before her Sires’ Produce win.
Macdonald, who was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame last month, has been selective in the horses he has brought to Sydney in the past.
His Sydney feature wins include the 2008 Hobartville Stakes with Serious Speed, the 2004 TJ Smith with Dilly Dally and the 2001 Reisling Stakes with Regal Kiss.
But nothing can top the first horse he brought over, Gold Guru, who came to Sydney in the autumn of 1998 to claim a Group One double.
He caused an upset in the Ranvet over Might And Power and lowered the colours of another Sydney star when he beat Tie The Knot to win the Derby.
Like many horses in the Macdonald stable, Go Indy Go is owned by her breeder Harry Perks.
She is a full-sister to Group Two-placed sprinter Essay Raider but gets her stamina from her dam side.
The filly is the second foal from Zabeel mare Elegant Eagle, a full-sister to Golden Eagle, the dam of the Macdonald-trained Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed.
Race jockey Chad Schofield will ride Go Indy Go in her gallop at Randwick on Tuesday.
