The Inglis Millennium meeting will be held at Warwick Farm this Saturday. The course proper was rated a Good 4 on Thursday and with showers forecast for Sydney leading up to the weekend, Warwick Farm is likely to border on Good/Soft condition on raceday.
Top colt Time To Reign is resuming on Saturday and he will confirm his Golden Slipper credentials in the Lonhro Plate (Sydney Race 1, 1100m). A half brother to Portelli’s former Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign, Time To Reign has won his only two career starts so far. Portelli has sent the 2YO to a 797m at his home track on 22nd January in preparation for his 1st up run, where Time To Reign duly won by a length sprinting his last 600m in 33.50 secs. Tim Clark will go to the front to control the pace and Time To Reign is going keep his unbeaten record intact.
The very consistent Fiesta is primed to claim the Inglis Sprint when resuming on Saturday (Sydney Race 5, 1100m). The Waller-trained 3YO won the Silver Shadow Stakes when 1st up in the Spring followed by three consecutive 2nds in the other three Princess Series races. Her only failure came in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas when she didn’t handle the Caulfield track. The filly has good 1st up record with 2 wins and a 3rd from three starts and she can handle any track conditions. With good pace in the race, Glyn Schofield will be able to settle in a good spot somewhere mid-field and Fiesta will be flashing home in the straight.
With the other top chances having drawn wide in the race, Dawn Passage looks the horse to beat in the Inglis Millennium (Sydney Race 7, 1200m). After drawing gate 7, the Team Waterhouse-trained 2YO has been promoted to the top of the betting market for the inaugural running of this 2YO race. On debut, Dawn Passage settled a long way back and being three wide in transit. He was held up early in the straight but let down impressively once into the clear, eventually annihilating the field by 3.3 lengths. Blake Shinn has been in terrific form and it looks as though he will settle a bit closer on Saturday. Dawn Passage will over-powered this field in the run home.
By Owens Wong, Editor
