Trainer John Sargent is known for his prowess with stayers but Regine is a new experience.
A northern hemisphere-bred half-sister to Ascot Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris, Regine was born in May 2014, making her several months younger than her opponents in Saturday’s Group Three Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) at Eagle Farm.
She is owned by Champion Thoroughbreds who bought her before Trip To Paris ran second in the 2015 Caulfield Cup and fourth in the Melbourne Cup.
Regine has had two starts for a third in a Nowra maiden and a 4-1/2 length win in a Sunshine Coast maiden on May 14.
Sargent is no stranger to using provincial races as lead-ins to stakes success.
Kirramosa and Gust of Wind won provincial races and went on to win the 2014 VRC Oaks and 2015 Australian Oaks respectively.
Sargent had three nominations for the Grand Prix which is a traditional lead-up to the Group One Queensland Oaks and Group One Queensland Derby.
But he was more than happy to go with Regine.
“I really like this filly. She won easily last start and I have no doubt the further she goes the better she will go,” Sargent said.
“She is bred to get 4000 metres so I am looking forward to her racing career.”
Regine is among the 21 second nominations for the Queensland Oaks on June 3, a race Sargent won in 2012 with Quintessential which was the catalyst for him to move to Australia from New Zealand.
Sargent has two horses for the Derby, Peter John and Shine Tak Star, who will also tackle provincial races in their final lead-ups.
Peter John will run at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday and Shine Tak Star at Ipswich on Wednesday.
The Sargent-trained two-year-old Easy Go Easy Win can earn a trip to Queensland for the Group One J J Atkins if he runs well at Randwick on Saturday.
