Wednesday will see Cheryl Roberts saddle up her first metropolitan runner in over two years, with Whispering Cate taking her spot in the Vinery Stud Handicap (1100m) at Warwick Farm.
The last horse Roberts took to Sydney was Rockets ‘N’ Roses which also raced at Warwick Farm back in June 2019.
It will be a special occasion for Roberts, having bred the two-year-old herself out of a mare she used to train.
“Her mother Chuchoter, which means ‘whisper’ in French, she’s out of a Sunday Silence mare and she was my first runner,” Roberts said.
“I won with her in Victoria and also at Gosford.
“Whispering Cate is the second foal, the first one is Louis The Great, but this one seems to be a lot more precocious than the first foal.”
Roberts has notched up six wins from 93 starts in her training career, with her most recent winner being Louis The Great at Goulburn back in February.
Whispering Cate will look to add to that number on Wednesday following a solid trial at Randwick last week.
Roberts knows it isn’t going to be easy but is confident in the way her filly is travelling.
“I think her trial speaks for itself,” she said.
“I think it was pretty impressive and she hasn’t skipped a beat since then. In fact, she’s come on.
“It’s not going to be an easy ask, obviously I’m running against the big boys, but I’m very happy with her progress.
“Let’s face it, you’ve just got to be lucky to have a city class horse and I think I’ve got one with her.
“She ran very impressively in her trial against city horses. I have my fingers crossed for sure.”
Whispering Cate will be the first horse bred by Roberts to race at metropolitan level and will jump from barrier five with Jay Ford in the saddle.
Roberts said it’s a fulfilling experience to have your own homebred racehorse.
“It’s definitely rewarding taking a horse that you’ve won with and then producing your own homebred, there’s no question about that,” she said.
“You have to be quite ruthless, the good horses cost just as much as the bad ones to feed.
“I’m very lucky that the ones that I have are good enough because I wouldn’t want to get rid of any of them.
“You just don’t know where they’re going to end up. I love all of my horses, so it’s really nice to breed with them as well.”
