The Tony Gollan trained Pembrey will have one final audition for a Golden Slipper start on March 21 when she tackles the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes over 1200m at Randwick on Saturday.
It has been a case of Pembrey doing everything asked of her so far … and then some … romping home in two trials by a combined winning margin of 8.35 lengths, before bringing that trial form to formal race action where she destroyed her opposition in a runaway debut win over 1000m in a performance which left daylight between the daughter of Prague and her nearest rival.
The smart gate-speed and the high cruising speed exhibited there, seemingly without any undue effort, could not have been more impressive.
All of those results have led to a natural step up of ambition with Gollan now opting to give the filly a far greater test in the Sweet Embrace … both in terms of how she will cope with the travel and how well she will be able to stand her ground against some more than useful opposition under what is likely to be a more pressure than she has encountered before.
A win on Saturday will see Pembrey’s connections reaching deep into their pockets to pay up the late $150 000 late entry fee for the Golden Slipper.
Current nominations suggest that there will be no ‘gimme’ for Pembrey with the opposition including, amongst others, three last start winners in the form of the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton trained Scintillation, who also won well on debut, the Ciaron Maher trained Ciaron’s Star and the Annabel and Rob Archbald trained Cherry Bomshell.
Throw in the likes of By Choice, who finished third behind Unit Five in the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic), and the race shapes as a highly competitive contest, but, having said that, the report back from jockey Ben Thompson could not have been more glowing following Pembrey’s race win at Eagle Farm.
“That was light work. She is a real professional, and obviously it gets attention when Tony Gollan steps out with a two-year-old, because he is in no hurry to do so,” said Thompson.
‘Her two trials have been great, and the stable got here at one-hundred-and-ten percent. She went 57.50 seconds pretty much on the dot and the (soft) track was riding worse than a track you should be able to run those times on, so she is really smart.”
“She rides a lot bigger than she looks, which is a sign of a good horse, isn’t it.”
James McDonald takes over in the saddle from Thompson on Saturday when he will help Pembrey chase the 2026 Golden Slipper carrot that is now being dangled in front of her.
The Golden Slipper is a race worth $5 million in total prize-money with $2 950 000 going to the winner. Should Pembrey be paid up for the Golden Slipper, her connections would have their $150 000 late entry fee covered should the filly finish in any of the first four places with the fourth place prize-money coming in at $210 000.
