It’s been two years since Sibaaq notched his lone Australian win to date but trainer Annabel Neasham feels he’s her best chance of completing a hat-trick in Saturday’s Listed $200,000 Lord Mayors Cup (2000m) at Rosehill.
Annabel Neasham (Pic: Trackside).
Neasham won the race in 2022 with Hopeful then last year with Bois D’Argent, who last week snared the Group 1 Doomben Cup, and she said on Sky Sports Radio that Sibaaq has had a more ideal lead up than stablemate Star Of India who is returning from a tendon injury.
Sibaaq, $7.00 with TAB on Thursday, was still in front at the 100m of the Scone Cup (1600m) two weeks ago after sitting outside the leader but he was swamped late to finish fourth in a performance Neasham was rapt with.
“Sibaaq was huge in the Scone Cup,’’ she said.
“They ran along at a really solid tempo which probably set it up for the backmarkers, he was I think pretty much the only horse up on the pace that was still fighting out the finish and he went down by a narrow margin.
“There was a lot more effort to that run than probably met the eye.”
While the gelding’s Wellington Cup, run at Dubbo, win in June of 2022 stands as his only local success he’s passed the $1 million mark in prizemoney and been a model of consistency for the Neasham stable.
He’s been placed eight times since that win including in a Five Diamonds Prelude, the Big Dance, the Five Diamonds and a couple of Listed races. Neasham has opted for a gear chance hoping to secure that breakthrough.
“I’ve taken the blinkers off him, going up to the 2000m I thought he probably doesn’t need those,’’ she said.
“He’s an honest horse who doesn’t know how to run a bad race.”
Star Of India sustained a tendon injury after winning the Rosehill Gold Cup in the spring of 2022 at his Australian debut and Neasham said the road to a racetrack return has been a long one.
The gelding has trialled three times in preparation for his comeback but the trainer is happy to err on the conservative side with her expectations.
“He’s been in the stable a long time, he’s had a lot of groundwork leading into this,’’ she said.
“It’s going to be a tough ask to win this race first-up after 18 months off but just look for him to hit the line strongly late and hopefully he’s in for a good campaign.”
Neasham feels another import in Perfect Play isn’t far off a win after two placings from as many starts for the stable though she said the TAB Handicap (1800m) may still be short of what he’s craving.
The four-year-old ran third behind Unusual Legacy and For Victory, both of which he meets again at Rosehill, over 1700m at Scone two weeks ago.
“He’s been good in his first two starts in Australia but he’s possibly looking for the 2000m now,’’ Neasham said.
“There isn’t one for him for a fortnight so I thought we’d run him again at 1800m and hopefully he’s there or thereabouts.”
Of her stable’s other runners, Neasham rated Ostraka in the Rosehill Bowling Club Handicap (1200m) as “one of our better chances on the day” and is expecting two-year-old Spaceman to improve off a solid debut in the Ranvet Handicap (1300m).
– Racing NSW
