Bryan Guy’s Gold Coast galloper Shuffle The Cash has copped an early blow ahead of their Tattersall’s Cup target on the weekend, the six-year-old allocated a hefty weight for the Eagle Farm feature.
Dash For Cash gelding Shuffle The Cash will be forced to carry 57.5kg in the $200,000 Group 3 Tattersall’s Cup (2200m) on Saturday, Guy unhappy with having been handed the second heaviest weight of the 13-horse field.
“Don’t get me started on that, sometimes I can’t understand it,” Guy said in relation to Shuffle The Cash’s weight for Saturday.
Top-weight for this year’s Tattersall’s Cup showdown is Gerald Ryan’s consistent Zabeel gelding Ironstein with 58kg who comes off a brave fourth place finish behind winner Tullamore and talented runner-up Glass Harmonium in the Group 2 Brisbane Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on June 11.
Shuffle The Cash also had their final Tatt’s Cup run in the Brisbane Cup when finishing four lengths away fifth carrying 53kg.
Before the Brisbane Cup, Shuffle The Cash took their number of career wins into double digits beating home Tinseltown by nearly two lengths in the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2200m) at Doomben on May 28 with 54kg on their back.
Guy originally had the stayer accepted for last Saturday’s Ipswich Cup, but opted to scratch Shuffle The Cash from the race subsequently won by Gold In Dubai in favour of focusing solely on this weekend’s event.
“It was really an afterthought to go to the Ipswich Cup, we were always going to the Tattersall’s Cup,” he said.
Shuffle The Cash is sure to still have their supporters on Saturday despite the weight after Luke Nolen’s mount drew ideally in barrier five, something Guy was able to smile about.
“We just hope he (Luke Nolen) can get him into a nice spot and give him the easiest possible run through the race,” Guy said.
“He worked terrific yesterday morning, I’m very happy with him.”
Shuffle The Cash is one of five horses Guy will saddle up at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
His other chances at black-type glory lie in his duo of Noisy Ocean and Red Royal in the $100,000 Listed Centenary Classic Mercedes-Benz Stakes (1400m) and Jazz Heart in the $100,000 Listed Tattersall’s Mile (1600m).
Of his Centenary Classic pair, Guy is backing Red Royal as the better chance of the two as the Red Dazzler colt comes off a smart win in a 1400m event at the Gold Coast.
“I thought his (Noisy Ocean’s) last run was very good, ran fifth in a Listed race up here on the long weekend,” he said.
“But (Red Royal) won on the Gold Coast and he’s not a bad horse at all.”
In the Tattersall’s Mile well-bred Show A Heart five-year-old from Danzero mare Bluedanu, Jazz Heart will be looking for a form turnaround after finishing a distant 10th beaten seven lengths by Mystical Grey in the Listed Spear Chief Handicap (1500m) last start on June 4.
“He’s been drawing terrible barriers which hasn’t helped,” Guy said of Jazz Heart’s three-start winter campaign.
It will be a tough ask from Jazz Heart, however, with the likes of Roger James’s top Kiwi galloper Firebolt and last-start Strawberry Road Handicap winner Willy Jimmy among the top Tattersall’s Mile hopefuls this year.
