Co-trainer Adrian Bott is the first to concede that Shangri La Express faces a mighty task to give weight to some promising rivals in The Rosebud.
But he is also keeping faith in the talented colt, who arrives at Saturday’s feature as one of its more seasoned competitors.
The winner of the Golden Gift, Shangri La Express held his own against some of the better two-year-olds of his generation, placing in the Pierro Plate (1100m) and the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) during the autumn.
It has earned him topweight of 60kg for Saturday’s Listed Rosebud (1100m) at Rosehilll, 3.5kg more than nearest-weighted rival Gatsby’s and seven kilos above the 53kg minimum to be carried by Winning Proposal and Brave One.
“It does set him a bit of a task,” Bott said.
“But we wanted to get him back and going early and there are limited options around.
“He has got a big weight to carry, which is going to make it tough, but he seems to be back in good shape.
“He has trialled well and at this stage everything is in order.”
Tim Clark will partner Shangri La Express after riding him in both his recent barrier trials.
The colt won his first 740m heat at Randwick in July then was roused along to hold second in a 1050m hitout on August 5.
It isn’t uncommon for Tulloch Lodge horses to be urged along on the trial track with Bott saying in the case of Shangri La Express, it was to tick up his fitness.
“Just to make sure that he was ready to go first-up,” Bott said.
“That will help. It was a fast-run trial and he was starting to feel the pinch late so he (Clark) wanted to keep him going to the line.”
While Shangri La Express faces a challenge in The Rosebud, it isn’t insurmountable.
Filly Tiz Invincible carried 58kg to upstage the colts and geldings 12 months ago, while three of the past seven winners have lumped 59kg or more, including Menari, who was victorious with 60.5kg in 2017.
