Good Idea will sport some of the most famous silks in Australian racing when he tackles Monday’s $302,250 TAB Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville.
The Phillip Stokes-trained six-year-old is part-owned by Think Big Stud and will wear the colours made synonymous with many of Bart Cummings’ champions of the past.
A runner-up in last year’s race behind the Danny O’Brien-trained King Of Leogrance, Good Idea returns to where he started his career for just his third start at Morphettville, with Stokes knowing one thing for certain: the horse is a genuine two-miler.
“That’s the one thing we do know with him, he runs 3200m,” Stokes said.
“He was very good in the race last year and hopefully we can go one better this time around.”
Good Idea started her career in SA and has only had to starts at Morphettville.
He defeated Busker’s Ballad in a Class 1 race in December 2018 before his eye-catching effort in last year’s Cup.
Stokes said the horse’s bad legs meant he was never a yearling sale option before being sent to Adelaide by connections.
“I’ve trained a few horses for Dato (Tan Chin Nam) in the past, like Miss Gunpowder, who was a nice filly,” Stokes said.
“Dato and Dr Alan Jackson had raced a lot of horses together. (Good Idea’s) legs were too bad to go through the sale ring so they sent him over here to me.
“He took a long time to find his feet. He ran well leading into last year’s race and I think his form is similar this time around given he’s been racing in stronger company.”
And Stokes said he went for a proven formula booking Queensland-based rider Ben Thompson to ride.
“I feel the horse runs well for Ben – he rode him last year,” Stokes said.
“The one thing with this horse is at the end of 3200m he’ll be strong, like last year.”
Good Idea is considered a $23 chance form his inside barrier, with Tralee Rose a dominant $1.95 favourite. Stokes said it was impossible to ignore what the Symon Wilde-trained mare had been doing leading into the Adelaide Cup.
“She’s a very nice mare,” he said.
“She profiles similarly to Surprise Baby a couple of years ago, so she’s going to be very hard to beat.”
Written by TheRacesSA
