G1 CHAMPIONS SPRINT
JOLIESTAR:
Heavy track concerns? “Flemington’s just an amazing surface. It’s second to none in terms of tracks in Australia, everyone’s striving to be as good as Flemington, especially when you have a four-day carnival. It’s been well protected in the week’s leading up… it’s had very little wear and tear, and I can’t see it being a problem really. It might get to Heavy, but it’ll be a good Heavy.”
Joliestar’s affinity for Flemington: “She doesn’t get in as much trouble here as she does in her other races. She likes to get back, switch off, and if you do that, it can be tempo related. Some of her races where she’s been beaten have been slow tempo, other ones luck in running. But up the straight, she makes her own luck really. I think that’s the difference, and Saturday’s a great oppourtunity. She’s drawn in the middle of the pack, James knows her well, she’s won down the straight. It’s only her third-run of the preparation, so she’s arguably ready to peak – she’s ready to run well again.”
WATCH: Hear from Waller
G1 CHAMPIONS MILE
LEICA LUCY:
“It shapes up as a tough one, it’s an amazing field. You’ve four or five really good horses there, and it’s a big ask. But she’s been very lightly raced, she ran terrific behind Pride Of Jenni last Saturday. And over the past few years, it’s been a recipe for success in terms of backing horses up. She’s still very much in the early days of her racing career, and she’ll be back here next year bigger and stronger, but she deserves her chance. We need those top four or five to fail, but it’s all about experience and being a happy and healthy horse, which she is.”
G1 CHAMPIONS STAKES
VIA SISTINA:
“We’ve very much kept her up to the mark without overtraining her. Naturally she’s a very fit horse, she runs well fresh, whether it’s the first run of the prep or the last. We haven’t complicated things, we’ve kept her happy, made sure she hasn’t put on weight, and as I said, kept her up to the mark. She plays finals footy every time she goes around, and she loves it. The stiffer the competition the better, we’ve seen that this preparation. Hopefully there’s a bit of speed on, but Flemington, 2000m, they can get rolling, and it should just play into her hands.”
Wet track queries? “The one time she failed on a wet track was at Flemington, but it was the day we had all the hail. A good form analysis person said to me, ‘if you go back and look at her replay, she was actually running in a lane that had hail and ice. James said that that day, she just never got comfortable and couldn’t quicken in it. I think that rules that run out, and therefore, all other times she’s handled it without any problems.”
KOVALICA:
“He’s going alright. His run last start in a WFA race, he finished third behind Lindermann, who’s the form horse up in Sydney at the moment. He’s fourth-up, getting out to 2000m for the first time this prep. Obviously you can see fresh legs in Cup week have an effect, and that’s what we’re banking on with him. (If the wet ground) slows the others down, it’ll be to his advantage.”
