Michael Hawkes is gearing up for a busy afternoon at Rosehill with six stakes runners, headlined by More Secrets in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic.
However, it is the younger brigade that could be the stable’s best chance for a win with Makarena and Airman favourites for the Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) and Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) respectively, while Fly Fly is pushing for top billing in the Magic Night Stakes (1200m).
Fly Fly boasts form around some of the better two-year-olds, finishing fourth to Switzerland on debut in the Pierro Plate and beating all but Gimcrack Stakes winner Manaal in the Sweet Embrace Stakes.
“She was out of her comfort zone here at her first race and she got beaten just over two lengths ….then her run the other day, if she draws a barrier she wins,” Michael Hawkes said.
“I thought she could win on Saturday.”
Fly Fly is out of Dawn Dawn, who Team Hawkes trained to win the 2020 Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes.
She was bred and is raced by that mare’s owners, Pam and Rob Crosby, but wasn’t nominated for the Golden Slipper as she wasn’t on the radar to race early.
“It’s her first ever prep, she has never been out of the system. She went straight to the breakers and came straight to me,” Hawkes said.
“That’s pretty phenomenal really. She was a late bloomer and she is actually not nominated for the Slipper.”
A victory in the Magic Night would prompt a discussion about whether to pay the late entry fee to back up in the Golden Slipper, but Hawkes was loathe to put the cart before the horse.
“We’ll cross that bridge if it happens,” he said.
The team will also have Agenda Setter in the Pago Pago Stakes (1200m), his two recent trials indicating he has returned a more polished horse at his second racing campaign.
Hawkes believes the colt will be better over 1400m but is pleased with his build-up to Saturday.
“He has come back bigger, stronger, better,” Hawkes said.
“It’s a nice starting point. I think the further he gets into his prep, the better he is going to be but he’s not without a cheeky chance.”
Sydney Stakes runner-up Airman resumes in the Maurice McCarten looking to take his first-up record to four wins from five fresh runs, while Makarena arrives at her assignment third-up having split Caballas and Encap in the Eskimo Prince Stakes on resumption and finished a fighting fifth to Tropical Squall in the Surround Stakes.
Hawkes felt an outside gate diminished Makarena’s winning chances last time and hoped for better fortune from barrier nine.
“The winner drew one, she drew thirteen. Swap the barriers and I’m not saying she wins, but she is top three,” Hawkes said of the Surround Stakes result.
“It’s actually quite a tough Phar Lap to be honest, it has come up quite strong.
“But I can’t fault her, she has improved and she is a genuine top-three (chance) again.”
The stable will also have the lightly-raced Groundrush in the Phar Lap Stakes while Group 1 placegetter More Secrets has been specked in the day’s feature, the Coolmore Classic (1500m), and is a $23 chance.
