Suavito In Frame For Champions Mile Start
- Thursday, 07 April 2016 07:50
Suavito will chase her third career Group One win in the Queen of the Turf Stakes at Randwick ahead of a possible overseas campaign.
The Nigel Blackiston-trained mare is one of 14 horses invited to run in the Group One Champions Mile in Hong Kong on May 1 and the Queen of the Turf looms as a pivotal race for any international plans.
"Let's get Saturday out of the way first," Blackiston said.
As a two-time Group One winner at weight-for-age in the 2014 Futurity Stakes and this year's CF Orr Stakes, Suavito is well credentialled for Saturday's race.
"She's rated the highest in the field for a reason," Blackiston said.
The five-year-old, who also boasts wins in the Blamey Stakes and the Matriarch Stakes among her eight victories, is back in distance after only beating one runner home in the Australian Cup (2000m) four weeks ago.
"Possibly I was a little bit adventurous stepping her up to 2000 metres after a year off and only having two 1400-metre races (leading in)," Blackiston said.
He said the mare had bounced back well from the Australian Cup.
Suavito's chances, however, could rest on the weather and how she handles whatever track condition presents on Saturday, with the surface rated soft on Thursday.
Her wins have been on good tracks.
"She can handle dead-to-slow going," Blackiston said.
"She ran seventh, beaten under five lengths in the Doncaster last year on the wettest track I've seen. So if you can get some footing and it's not too bottomless or too sticky, then she should handle it OK."
Luke Currie, who has been aboard Suavito in her three starts this campaign including her CF Orr Stakes win first up, has the job of trying to navigate the best path for the mare from a wide barrier.
