Following the release of the 2011 Perth Cup nominations for the New Year’s Eve showdown earlier this week, connections of one of the entries have declared war on the locals with New Zealand stayer Supremacy ready to travel to WA for Australia’s final Group 2 race of the year.
There were 41 horses nominated for the $400,000 Group 2 Perth Cup (2400m), moved from New Year’s Day to December 31, at first entry stage on Tuesday.
While Perth-trained stayers dominate the list of candidates, Steven Pinfold’s Kiwi raider Supremacy is one of the ‘other’ hopefuls looking to secure the Perth Cup win.
The Golan five-year-old has recorded three victories from 20 starts to date, but are yet to race outside of their native New Zealand.
After a number of promising runs around the Perth Cup distance, new trainer Pinfold is confident WA will hold the key to a Group race win for the gelding.
“He’s had a couple of big trips before,” Pinfold said.
“He handles good ground and slow.
“We are looking at getting into the Perth Cup at the lower end of the weight scale.”
Supremacy has had just one start for Pinfold who took over their preparation late last month for new connections, including previous co-trainer David Haworth, when finishing third to Jeu De Cartes in a 2200 metre Benchmark 85 at Ellerslie last Saturday.
And the Perth Cup is set to be just the beginning of an Australian summer racing campaign for Supremacy, whose new owners are based in Melbourne.
“I have some good owners in Melbourne and over the last few years we have tried to get hold of some good stayers,” Pinfold said.
“The only Kiwi owner is David Haworth and he owned and trained the horse.
“This horse came up and we thought he might be the right horse to do the job we want.”
Pinfold himself has seen some success in Victoria before, most notably the Group 1 third behind Miss Andretti in the 2008 Lightning Stakes at Flemington by his former sprint queen Tickling.
Scheduled to fly across the Tasman next Wednesday, Supremacy won’t head straight to Perth with Pinfold instead penciling in their maiden run down under in the Bitalli Handicap (2500m) at Flemington on December 17.
Following Flemington and then the Perth Cup, future summer racing plans for Supremacy in Australia include a trip to Tasmania to tackle the state’s two major races – the $300,000 Group 3 Hobart Cup (2200m) on February 12 and the $225,000 Group 3 Launceston Cup (2400m) just over a fortnight later.
“He can run in the Launceston and Hobart Cups…they have good money these days,” Pinfold said.
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