Metropolitan Handicap winner Montefilia will ramp up her carnival preparations with an exhibition gallop between races at Rosehill.
The mare is scheduled to resume in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on February 26 and trainer David Payne is keen for her to have a day out to whet her appetite.
Jason Collett will partner her in the race day hitout on Saturday when she will gallop over 1600m with stablemate and Listed winner Blue Soldier.
A dual Group 1 winner at three, Montefilia added the Metropolitan to her elite race tally in the spring and finished a solid fourth to Incentivise in the Caulfield Cup.
Payne could have pressed on to the Melbourne Cup, but the experienced horseman opted to pull up stumps instead because he felt the four-year-old would benefit from being given more time to mature.
He remains adamant it was the right call and he will again keep an open mind with Montefilia this campaign, confirming the Sydney Cup (3200m) is in the mix, but all options are on the table.
“We will see how she comes back, we might even go for the Queen Elizabeth. She is in all the races,” Payne said.
“If it’s not the Queen Elizabeth, it will be the Tancred and then we might decide on the Sydney Cup. It all depends on how she goes.”
Collet, who rode Montefilia to victory in the 2020 Spring Champion Stakes, reunites with her for the first time since last year’s ATC Australian Oaks when she finished fifth to Hungry Heart.
