Matthew Kelley will be targeting a Country Cup with Stupendo on Saturday, but there are options on the table for connections.
With Braidwood and Tumut racing on the same day, Kelley and the Supido gelding’s ownership group have a decision to make.
The non-TAB $22,000 Braidwood Cup carries a richer prize purse, and the five-year-old gets in nicely with 59kg, draws well with gate three, and has attracted the services of recent Tumbarumba Cup winning jockey Billy Owen.
The meeting is a TAB program at Tumut, but the Tumut Cup only carries $19,000 in prizemoney.
Still, connections get in nicely with 57.5kg after Coriah Keatings utilises her 1.5kg claim, and they again draw well with gate four.
“We’ve left our options open,” Kelley told NSW Country and Picnic Racing.
“He’s got the same weight, and they are similar types of races, but personally, If I owned the horse, I would be leaning towards Braidwood.
“I don’t know just yet, and I’ll have a discussion with the owners and see what they want to do, and purely for the owners, because some of them live in the Gold Coast and those places, they might prefer to win less money and race at Tumut so they can watch him race, so we’ll know tonight or tomorrow.”
Stupendo, a three-time winner, has been racing in good form.
Three starts back, the five-year-old prevailed in a 1200m Class Two Handicap at Bathurst on December 23.
After finishing down the track in the much stronger Moruya Town Plate on January 6, Stupendo bounced back and ran third at Parkes on January 25, beaten two lengths in the 1400m Benchmark 82 Handicap.
“He’s going really well,” Kelley said.
“His last start over the 1400m was good, and he was beaten by two better horses that had better runs in transit.
“Before that, he was kind of getting run off his feet over 1200m and was getting back and had to tack onto the field, and we thought stepping him up to 1400m would make sense.
“After his run at Parkes, we think 1400m is more his caper, and the 1350m at Braidwood and the 1400m at Tumut should suit him.”
While Kelley has a decision to make with Stupendo, the Canberra trainer will head to Tumut confident he can win the Tumut Sprint (1000m) with Starlight Girl.
The four-year-old Zoustar mare has started ten times and won four races, including a last-start victory in the 1010m Benchmark 66 Handicap at Moruya on January 17.
Coriah Keatings retains the ride, and with the 1.5kg claim, the Canberra galloper will jump from gate three with just 57kg on her back.
“Starlight Girl will be extremely hard to beat at Tumut,” Kelley said.
“It’s not an ideal stepping stone, as she is lightly-raced and won by panels last start, but the racing calendar was not in her favour.
“It’s a bit unconventional going back to a Sky 2, but she is awkwardly placed with her rating and four wins, and there was nothing else on the calendar that suited her.
“It was either run her at Tumut or give her a barrier trial, and Tumut is a grade below what she should be racing at, and I’d like to think she’ll be running in open company this prep.”
While destined to be the red-hot favourite, Kelley believes Starlight Girl needs to be on her game at Tumut.
“She should be winning, and she’s pretty progressive, but her only downfall is that she can be unreliable in the gates and step away slowly,” Kelley said.
“At Tumut, you can’t afford to step away slowly, so we’ll be hoping she can begin well, and if she does jump in front, she’ll take some beating.”
Kelley does have bigger races in mind for his talented speedster. The main goal of this preparation is the 1000m Open Sprint at Canberra on March 9.
“We’d like to have her ready and firing for that open sprint race on Black Opal Day, and it’s just a matter of keeping her ready and having another run or two under her belt before then,” Kelley said.
