A berth in the rich Magic Millions Classic goes on the line in the 2YO Plate at Rosehill, with five of the eight runners jostling for a position in the Gold Coast race.
Debut winners Hinchbeast and Farnan will be out to bolster their claims while Tycoonist, Kerrisdale and Sancy have their first starts in Saturday’s 1100m race.
Tycoonist, a $750,000 yearling at this year’s sale, is trained at Hawkesbury by Brad Widdup, who is keen to get the colt to the $2 million Magic Millions Classic (1200m) on January 11.
“He has had two nice trials,” Widdup said.
“He got a fair way back so hopefully on Saturday he should be able to be a bit closer in the run.
“He has a great attitude for a colt. He is very relaxed and in the trials he hit the line well.
“Obviously we would like to get him to the Magic Millions Classic and there is still time to give him another race before then if we have to depending on what happens on Saturday.”
The Classic has a field limit of 16, with about 20 races for two-year-olds to be run over the next five weeks.
The top 14 in the latest order of entry have $49,000 or more with Saturday’s Rosehill race worth $58,000 to the winner.
Widdup also hopes Tycoonist’s stablemate Junglized can earn his way to the rich Gold Coast race day.
Junglized has the distinction of being Widdup’s first winner when he left his job as a foreman at Godolphin 2-1/2 years ago to try his hand at training.
The gelding, who runs in Saturday’s benchmark 88 event over 1100m, is on trial for the Magic Millions Sprint (1200m).
He ran a close second to stablemate Sandbar at Rosehill on November 2 and has since run second in a barrier trial.
“He has to step up and pay his way to the Gold Coast,” Widdup said.
“It’s a million-dollar race so it would be nice to see him get there.
“We freshened him up after his last start and he trialled well.”
