Annabel Neasham is unsure if she has a Spring Champion Stakes horse in her stable, but she expects to have a better idea this weekend.
The top Sydney trainer , who operates in partnership with Rob Archibald, has accepted with three horses, Firm Agreement, San Gabriel and Cristal Clear, in the $500,000 Group 3 Gloaming Stakes at Rosehill.
Firm Agreement and San Gabriel will each be having just their third start in the 1800-metre, with Cristal Clear looking to bounce back after an unplaced effort last start, and Neasham is keen to give the trio their chance to press their Spring Champion Stakes claims.
“Often at this time of year some nice staying prospects start to pop up and really improve and a lot of horses don’t see out the distance, so the Gloaming is a bit of a fork in the road,” Neasham said.
“Firm Agreement and San Gabriel in particular give me the indication that they’ll get 2000 after we try them at the 1800 first, but they should be competitive on Saturday.”
The Gloaming Stakes is a virtual dress rehearsal for the Spring Champion Stakes with the four horses – Henlein, Swiftfalcon, El Castello and Tenbury Wells – who head the market on that October 26 event all engaged.
Neasham’s first thought was that Cristal Clear did not run out a strong 1800m when sixth of nine on a Soft 7 last start at Rosehill on October 2, which followed back-to-back wins, but Neasham is keen to give the son of Exceedance another chance on firmer ground.
“I’m just not convinced he saw the trip out the other day but it was Soft ground, so whether that was a factor, I’m not sure,” Neasham said.
Firm Agreement, a son of Yes Yes Yes, heads to the Gloaming after winning a 1500m Newcastle maiden on October 1, while Savabeel gelding San Gabriel has finished second in both of his two starts.
“Firm Agreement was really good last week, we haven’t necessarily had the Spring Champion in mind, but at this time of year when you’ve got a three-year-old who can look like it can stay a bit you can change to that path.
“San Gabriel is still a maiden, but he’s lightly raced we thought we’d have a look at it with him.”
Firm Agreement, who is the shortest price of Neasham’s trio at $19, has the services of Tom Sherry and will start from barrier two, while San Gabriel (Nash Rawiller) will jump from barrier 10 and Cristal Clear (Tim Clark) gate four.
