John Sargent will head to the Listed Wagga Gold Cup with talented mare Pink Ivory hoping to settle some unfinished business.
Sargent captured the race in 2020 with House Of Cartier, only to have her subsequently disqualified when she returned a positive post-race swab.
It was the clean skin trainer’s first such penalty in almost 40 years of training and investigations failed to reveal how the drug, a sedative used for horses undergoing surgery, came to be in her system.
“I had one runner, one winner and I lost it on a positive (swab) with House Of Cartier,” Sargent said.
“We’re going to try to go back and get it this time – and hopefully not lose it.”
A daughter of champion race mare Lotteria, Pink Ivory brings solid formlines to Wagga with top-four finishes in a brace of Group 3 fillies and mares’ races over the Sydney autumn carnival before a closing last start fifth to Diamil in the JRA Plate (2000m).
Tom Sherry sticks with her and while she has an awkward draw, she will come into barrier 12 of 16 following six early scratchings with Sargent also making an important gear change.
“Blinkers go back on. She was a bit lazy without them last start,” he said.
A handy field has been assembled for Wagga’s feature middle-distance race with Wicklow a $4 favourite to give Chris Waller his fifth win and back-to-back titles following his victory with Aleas 12 months ago.
Pink Ivory is on the second line of betting at $7 while the Gary Colvin-trained Another One is the leading light for the locals at $13.
The 2022 Country Championships winner, Another One was placed in the Wagga Town Plate (1200m) at last year’s May carnival and faces his first test beyond 1800-metres in Friday’s showpiece.
He is one of just two locally trained runners along with Gundagai Cup winner The Doctor’s Son ($34) for Maddison Collins.