With his son Calvin now registered as a training partner, Tony McEvoy is looking for the perfect start for the partnership from a quality team heading to Sandown.
That team is headed by Sun City who McEvoy holds Group One aspirations for in the spring.
Sun City and stablemate Yulong Savings kick off their spring campaigns in The Big Screen Company Handicap (1000m) with the McEvoys saddling up another five runners on Wednesday’s program.
A Magic Millions hope earlier in the year, Sun City has not raced since winning the Group Three BJ McLachlan Stakes at Doomben in December.
A joint infection after that race put an end to Magic Millions plans and the rest of Sun City’s two-year-old season.
The stable was planning to run Sun City in the McNeil Stakes, won by Super Seth, at Caulfield last Saturday, but decided to wait after the horse was slow to recover from a gallop at Sandown last week.
He said that gallop had improved Sun City while Wednesday’s race would be the ideal tune-up for the Group Two Danehill Stakes at Flemington on September 14.
Sun City will carry 60kg after Lewis German’s three-kilo claim on Wednesday.
“I think he’s a quality horse and I’m hoping he can handle the weight,” McEvoy said.
“I had the option of running him in the (benchmark) 78 against the older horses in which he had 56.5 kilos but I’m happy to run him with the weight against his own age.
“It is only 1000 metres and the Sandown 1000, it’s pretty cruisy.”
Long-term McEvoy is aiming Sun City at the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on November 2, a race he hopes Yulong Savings will also contest.
McEvoy said Wednesday’s race was always planned as Yulong Saving’s starting point.
“Unfortunately they’ve both ended up there,” he said.
“He won really impressively at Bendigo and was a bit stiff not to win a stakes race at Flemington.
“Then we took him to Sydney to get us a ticket into the Golden Slipper but he ran into a heavy track and couldn’t pick his legs up.”
The McEvoys also run Quaffany in the Le Pine Funerals Handicap; Lassister in the Clanbrooke Racing Handicap; Game Keeper and Hills in the Ladbrokes Back Yourself Handicap and Aristocratic Miss in the Ladbrokes Park Handicap.
