While cautious that Glory Daze has run his best races at Randwick rather than Rosehill, the Ciaron Maher stable is confident the gelding is going well enough to make his presence felt in the McKell Cup.
The six-year-old’s three local wins have all been at headquarters, although he did perform admirably at his most recent Rosehill outing when third in the Lord Mayors Cup (2000m) last month.
He returns to the western Sydney track for Saturday’s 2000-metre Listed race and Maher’s Sydney foreman Johann Gerard-Dubord says he cannot fault the horse at home.
“He has probably got a better record at Randwick than he does at Rosehill but he has got that rating where we don’t have too many options so he probably has to run,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“But I couldn’t be happier with him. He is going well.
“We have just kept him fresh. He was backing up last start so we have given him plenty of time between runs.”
Glory Daze was a Randwick winner over 2000m two starts ago before placing over the same journey in the Lord Mayors Cup.
Both were on heavy tracks and while the gelding won’t get his favoured rain-affected conditions on Saturday, Gerard-Dubord says the McKell Cup (2000m) shapes as the right race at the right time.
“I would have loved to see a bit more rain, but he’s at his right trip and I think it’s the right race,” he said.
“With a bit more give in the track, I would be very confident. But he is still good enough and he is going well.”
A field of 14 was accepted for the middle distance feature, although Quietness is an early scratching with trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton opting to send her to Queensland for the Tattersall’s Gold Crown (2100m) against her own sex.
