Racing
Maher to consider Metrop back-up for Piggyback
A look at some of the other angles from Golden Rose day.
Sargent sets stakes goal for Meridiana
A return to stakes company is on the cards for emerging mare Meridiana after she resumed with a sizzling win in Saturday's Midway Handicap (1300m) at Rosehill.
Already a Listed placegetter from just five starts, Meridiana will be taken through the grades to start her campaign but trainer John Sargent has his sights on bigger targets at the back end of the spring.
"She has always shown a lot of promise. She won her first race in the city at Randwick so any horse that does that you know is good," Sargent said.
"She will just go through her grades and then maybe some black type, either here or at Flemington at the end of the carnival.
"I think she will get out to 2000 metres in time. You saw her today, she is that laidback, she just lobs along. She's not big but she's got a long stride."
Meridiana ($4.60) came from back in the field to storm down the outside and claim Alabama State ($2.90 fav) by a half-length with the winner's stablemate Vetwelve ($4.60) another long neck away third.
Jockey Josh Parr said he was confident once he got the four-year-old to the outside in the straight but not so much in the run.
"I'll tell you what, she's an unassuming mare," Parr said.
"I've watched her trials and her races and she possesses such a great turn of foot, but she doesn't give that feel throughout the race.
"She's off the bit and quite a loose action on her, but when asked for an effort she lowers and is really good."
Piggyback in line for Metrop start
Consistent staying mare Piggyback is likely to back up in the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) after upstaging stablemate Juja Kibo to win a key lead-up race at Rosehill.
Having her eighth run in a campaign that began in May, Piggyback ($6) enjoyed a cosy run behind the speed and was able to overhaul Juja Kibo ($2.10 fav) to take out the Colin Stephen Quality (2400m) by a half-length.
Trainer Ciaron Maher admitted it would be difficult to pass up an opportunity in next week's feature while the mare was in form and had a light weight.
"It is pretty tempting with 50 kilos," Maher said.
"We will see how she is but she has had the preparation to back up. She has had a really good grounding and a gap between runs so if we did want to back up it would work, I think."
Maher hasn't ruled out pressing on to the Metropolitan with the runner-up as well but will let the dust settle before making that decision.
"The other bloke, the plan was to hopefully win and back up with him," Maher admitted.
"We will have to wait and see but we might run them both next week."
Valley next stop for Unusual mare
A support race on the Cox Plate program has been pencilled in for She's Unusual following her dominant display in Saturday's Irresistible Pools and Spas Handicap (1900m).
Co-trainer Tom Charlton nominated the Group 3 Tesio Stakes (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 as their next target after the six-year-old thumped her Rosehill rivals by 3-1/4 lengths.
"It's an option and there is another option at Flemington a bit later but it's probably time for her to have a crack at stakes level, Charlton said.
Syndicated by OTI Racing, She's Unusual has managed a top three finish in five of her six starts this preparation.
Charlton felt her consistency was due to a mixture of them learning how to best manage the mare and tweaking her gear by replacing blinkers with visors.
"Bar one hiccup this preparation, she has been superb," he said.
"We really learned how to handle her and train her and she presented in excellent order today.
"She's a lightly framed filly, there's not much of her, but we keep her nice and fresh and we like to space her runs, as you can see, to be most effective."
Sir Artie breaks Rosehill hoodoo
He had three starts around the Rosehill circuit without troubling the judge but the Team Archibald-prepared Sir Artie ($10) put that record to bed with a dominant victory in the Benchmark 88 Handicap.
After noted leader Felix Majestic set a strong tempo in front, the son of Flying Artie was able to balance up out the back of the field for apprentice Braith Nock and be saved for one last run at them.
He proved too strong on the line late for Asgarda ($11) to score by 1-3/4 lengths with Formal Display ($5) the same margin away in third.
Co-trainer Rob Archibald was pleased to see Sir Artie bounce back after he didn't get much luck when resuming at the same track.
"His first-up run was a little bit of a hit and run, he sort of had nowhere to go late," Archibald said.
"He's a horse that's had his problems in the past, but we feel like we really had him going well leading into today.
"A lovely ride by Braith. He was patient when there was good speed early. He summed it up very quickly and he was good late."
Nock, who claims 2kg in town, was a bit surprised by the early tempo but believed that worked in his favour.
"We probably ended up a little bit further back than anticipated, but I thought the early speed was quite good," Nock said.
"I still thought we probably hit the front a bit too early but being second-up I still think there's a bit of improvement there."
Quote of the Day: "A bit frustrating. He's racing so well but just clearing the gates is so costly in these big races. Hopefully it's a harder run race in the Epsom." – Jason Collett on Encap's luckless fourth to Waterford in the Shannon Stakes.
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