Doomben 10,000 winner English is in great shape to claim back to back Group 1 when she lines up in the Group 1 $700,000 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday.
English, above, is in great shape for the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott has reported that English has pulled in great order following her win in the Group 1 $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben on May 12 and came through an easy workout at the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning with Doomben 10,000 winning jockey Tim Clark putting the mare through her paces.
“We’re really happy with the way she’s come back after the 10,000 and hopefully she can hold that form through to the next start,” Bott told AAP.
“She worked well. She’s been in work a long time so she wasn’t there to break any records.”
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained English had won once at Group 1 level in the 2016 Group 1 $600,000 Schweppes All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick but hadn’t been in the winner’s stall since saluting in the Group 2 $500,000 Hyland Race Colours Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick during the 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
English was back to her best last start when she stormed home along the inside to win the Doomben 10,000 and gets her chance for a quick return to the Group 1 winner’s circle.
Even though English had been out of the winner’s list for over twelve months, Bott was still confident that the Encosta De Lago mare was still capable of securing another Group 1 win before being retired to stud.
“We were really confident taking her up there but I guess it’s difficult when they haven’t won for that length of time,” Bott said.
“We were continually making excuses for her and you wonder if you’ll be doing that again even though we were really confident with where she was at and the timing of her preparation.”
Early betting for the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au: $3.50 Le Romain, $4.50 Impending, $6 Care To Think, $7 English, $12 Spieth, Volpe Veloce, $17 Endless Drama, $21 Lucky Hussler, Perast, $26 Danon Liberty, Foxplay, Most Important, Supido, Voodoo Lad, $34 Santa Ana Lane, $41 First Among Equals, Glenall, $51 or better the rest.
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