The preferred option of two races for gifted New Zealand mare Silent Achiever will depend on the drying capability of Warwick Farm racecourse.
Silent Achiever is scheduled to make her Australian return in the Group One Chipping Norton Stakes on Saturday but trainer Roger James will make a last-minute call on a midweek trip across the Tasman.
“I want to come over but I really wouldn’t want to run her on a heavy track,” James told AAP.
“It was a slow track when she won the (New Zealand) Derby be she is really better on firmer footing.
“I’m going to do a bit of homework in the morning regarding the weather but just in case, I have nominated her for a race in Auckland as well.”
If the trainer is satisfied Sydney’s miserable run of weather has come to an end, Silent Achiever will board a Wednesday afternoon flight from Auckland to Sydney.
Otherwise, she is nominated to run in the $NZ40,000 Novotel Mile at Ellerslie on Saturday.
James McDonald, the ace New Zealand jockey who now plies his trade in Sydney, has been booked for the Chipping Norton Stakes mount.
McDonald was reunited with Silent Achiever when the four-year-old exceeded first-up expectations with a narrow defeat under 61kg at Ellerslie last month.
“It was a huge return … far better than I thought she could do,” James said.
Silent Achiever has raced in Sydney before with her courageous minor placing in the Rosehill Guineas the standout among two autumn carnival runs last year.
Trainer Chris Waller said he expected his Chipping Norton Stakes team to be reduced to five runners from the eight horses he nominated.
His defectors are likely to be the three-year-olds Tougher Than Ever and Sacred Falls and Saturday’s Millie Fox Stakes winner Red Tracer.
“Tougher Than Ever and Sacred Falls will probably wait until the Randwick Guineas,” Waller said.
Runner-up in the Apollo Stakes at his latest run, Tougher Than Ever contested a Rosehill barrier trial won by Fast Clip on Tuesday.
“Red Tracer will be saved for the Coolmore (Classic).
The 2011 winner Danleigh and 2012 winner Shoot Out will be at the forefront of Waller’s bid for a hat-trick in the $350,000 race.
