Phillip Stokes was relieved to see Shamino break a long drought last start, but isn’t exactly brimming with confidence that he can go back-to-back in Saturday’s $175,000 Apache Cat Classic (1000m) at Cranbourne.
The once-promising sprinter will carry the 60kg top weight in the feature sprint race on the Cranbourne Cup Day card.
It will be his first start since winning the Listed Wylie Stakes (1100m) in Adelaide on September 17, which was the first win since December 2020 for the gelding who won six of his first eight starts for Stokes, having previously won twice for original trainer David Brideoake.
The son of Shamus Award carried 54kg that day and rises to 60kg on Saturday, but Stokes said there are not a lot of options for the seven-year-old.
“He never seems to go down in the ratings, so he’s very hard to place,” Stokes said.
“There’s not much to choose from. There’s nothing in Adelaide obviously and he doesn’t get 1200, so it’s probably just the logical race for him.
“But can he do two in a row after not winning for two years? I don’t know.”
Stokes was more bullish about the other horse he has entered for the race, Ancestry, who is chasing a second win in the event, having scored a dominant 3-1/4-length win in the 2020 Apache Cat Classic (1000m) as a hot favourite.
The six-year-old has not placed in six starts since winning the Listed Abell Stakes (1000m) at The Valley in March last year, but Stokes was satisfied with his first-up fifth at that track on Cox Plate weekend and has been impressed with his work since.
“I thought his first up run was OK, he hadn’t raced for 11 months and he got beaten 4.5 lengths on a Heavy track,” Stokes said.
“He’s taken good improvement from that, I’ve put a set of winkers on him and the horse looks fantastic.
“He’s working the place down but I just need to see it raceday. If he brings his A-game, he’s more than capable.”
The Stokes pair are among 22 nominations for the Apache Cat with Ancestry to carry 59kg, the same weight allocated to Yulong Command and Ashford Street.
He’s A Balter (58.5kg), Scissor Step (58kg), Ranting (58kg) and Midwest (56.5kg) are among the others entered.
