Champagne Cath, rated among the best two-year-olds to race in Sydney this season, will have her Magic Millions credentials tested in familiar surroundings.
Trainer Chris Waller said Champagne Cath would be kept in Sydney to race at Canterbury instead of heading to Brisbane where she is also nominated for the Group Three B J McLachlan Stakes at Doomben.
“She is ninety-nine per cent certain to race at Canterbury on Saturday,” Waller told AAP.
Waller gave an insight into his Magic Millions Classic lead-up plans for Champagne Cath when the filly figured in an exhibition gallop with race jockey Corey Brown in the saddle at Canterbury on Friday night.
“She wasn’t out to do too much. It was more about her having a look around Canterbury,” Waller said.
Champagne Cath announced her arrival as a leading chance for the Magic Millions Classic with a 3-1/4 length Rosehill win in smart time.
She is one of 17 entries for Saturday’s 1200m race.
Among her expected rivals will be the Gai Waterhouse-trained Aussies Love Sport, a first starter who has attracted long-shot support to win the Magic Millions.
Champagne Cath was the opening favourite for the $2 million race but she is now on the fourth line of betting at $14 with the Clarry Conners-trained Assail ($4.50) taking over at the top of the market after her Wyong win last week.
Waller is still finalising his team for the Magic Millions raceday but he says not to expect Saturday’s Warwick Farm winner Disciple to race at the Gold Coast extravaganza.
“It’s hard to go up there for a $100,000 race when you’ve got an $85,000 race in your backyard,” Waller said.
“It’s a trip up there, a trip back, a race on a hot day so if there’s the right race here we’ll keep him in Sydney.”
One of Magic Millions’ best graduates, the weight-for-age star Shoot Out, has returned to stable duties with Waller.
Waller plans to mirror a spring campaign which delivered Group One success for Shoot Out as the six-year-old closes in on $3 million in career earnings.
“He’ll run in races like the Chipping Norton Stakes and the George Ryder Stakes but he’ll have his runs spaced to keep him fresh,” Waller said.
Shoot Out posted a fourth Group One win when he resumed over 1600m to claim the George Main Stakes at Randwick during the Sydney spring carnival.