A genuine liking for the Eagle Farm racing surface is expected to help overcome a drop back in distance for Toowoomba mare Love You Lucy.
Love You Lucy will be chasing her third black-type win for the winter in the Listed Bright Shadow (1200m).
The mare has been the big improver of the winter, going from restricted class to winning the Listed Silk Stocking (1200m) and the Group Two Dane Ripper Stakes (1400m).
Her win in the Dane Ripper two weeks ago was one of the runs of the year because there was high drama at the start.
Jockey Glenn Colless was forced to ride part of the race with his foot out of the iron.
“The barrier blanket got caught when we jumped and it pulled my shoe out of one of my irons,” Colless said.
Colless was suspended at Doomben last week but will be eligible to ride Love You Lucy on Saturday.
The mare has paid for consistency and will carry equal top weight.
Trainer Barry Squair said Love You Lucy owed him nothing but another stakes win would complete a great season.
“She’s been up for a long time but she is a lovely mare,” he said.
“I always felt she would be a good winner but she’s won eight races very quickly and that has surprised me.”
Squair said an advantage on Saturday would be that Love You Lucy was unbeaten at Eagle Farm.
“Some horses don’t handle it but she does,” he said.
Love You Lucy’s record now stands at eight wins and six minor placings for $366,325, making her a genuine bargain because she is a homebred from a mare who cost $3000.
She is an $11 chance in an open Bright Shadow market with Jamaican Rain and Multaja sharing favouritism at $6.
