Stradbroke Handicap winner River Lad will be accompanied on his trip to Melbourne by stablemate Lady Echelon as trainer Natalie Mccall prepares to make an impact.
The pair leave will travel by road from their Sunshine Coast home on Tuesday with McCall doing everything she can to ensure they are in the right environment when they get to Melbourne.
They were originally booked to stay on a property out of town but will now be in the thick of things at Flemington where River Lad begins his campaign in Saturday’s Gilgai Stakes.
“We have been able to get in with Troy Corstens at Flemington,” McCall said.
“It gives us access to a water walker which is important for both of them.”
Lady Echelon booked herself a Melbourne campaign with an impressive first-up win at Doomben on Saturday.
She will have her first start in the Ladies Day Vase (1600m) at Caulfield on October 15.
“It should give us a very good idea of where she is at compared with the Melbourne and Sydney mares. I have always felt she was a black type horse but she hasn’t had a lot of luck in her races,” McCall said.
Lady Echelon won her sixth race on Saturday but she has also run five seconds including four in a row during the early winter carnival.
It was her first win on a good track with her other victories coming on rain affected surfaces.
“She doesn’t like rock hard tracks so hopefully we will get some rain in Melbourne,” McCall said.
McCall has several options for River Lad including the Group One Emirates Stakes on the fourth day of the Flemington carnival or even Perth’s Winterbottom Stakes, won last year by Queensland champion Buffering.
