Mark Newnham has prepared his share of talented fillies and he says untapped three-year-old Sanstoc has the potential to be as good as any of them.
Newnham has won Group 1 races with the likes of Nakeeta Jane and Maid Of Heaven, while Greysful Glamour, Harmony Rose, Scarlet Dream and Quintessa were all placed at the top level as three-year-olds.
He can especially see parallels between Sanstoc and Scarlet Dream, who was also sparingly raced before finishing third in the 2019 Kembla Grange Classic and runner-up to Verry Elleegant in that year’s ATC Australian Oaks.
“She’s as nice a filly as I’ve had going into these sorts of races in the past. She has just been a bit behind the eight ball because she just started racing,” Newnham said.
“She is a little bit like Scarlet Dream at the same stage.
“Unfortunately, she didn’t train on, but I think this filly has got a bit more scope to train on.”
Sanstoc made her debut with a third to Coolmore Classic contender Cap Estel over 1400m in February, then emerged triumphant from a bumping duel with the much bigger and more seasoned Stormy Legend to win over 1500m at Kembla Grange.
Her autumn aim is the ATC Australian Oaks (2400m), although Newnham’s more immediate focus is on her next start and whether that will be in Friday’s Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) at Goulburn, or the Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill a day later.
He will wait until Friday morning to make a final call but either way, he is hoping Sanstoc can make her presence felt during the carnival.
“It is probably the conditioning run she will need to get to 2000 metres (next start), but I expect she will still have enough sprint in her legs to be effective around a mile,” Newnham said.
Tom Sherry has been booked to ride Sanstoc at both venues.
