Another shot at redemption for Amade in Sydney Cup
Amade’s chance to end his career one of the best-performed horses Phillip Stokes has trained has probably passed, but the enigmatic import will continue to be given chances to land a big staying feature.
The 10-year-old’s next opportunity comes in this Saturday’s $2 million Group 1 Sydney Cup at Randwick.
The 3200-metre event will be Amade’s first appearance since his remarkable performance in the Group 2 Adelaide Cup, when he was again slowly away but later saw jockey Zac Spain lose his irons.
It was the latest hard-luck story in a career full of missed opportunities for the son of Casamento, most by his own doing, but Stokes remains hopeful it will one day click and the Pakenham trainer is convinced he is ging well enough to win this weekend.
“He’s thrown away a lot of money in his career, but when he’s on song he can run a race and he’s given me the right indication (he’ll run well),” Stokes said.
“The horse, on his day, is better than Daqiansweet Junior, but ‘DJ’ is a lot more consistent.
“He’s just one of those quirky horses, he’ll either do it or he won’t, and there’s not much you can do about it.”
The irons snapping was a new one, but slow starts have been a staple of his career, which started in Europe and included a Group 2 win in the Belmont Gold Cup in the United States before coming to Australia.
Amade had his first Australian start in the 2021 Easter Cup, finishing fourth behind Hang Man, before winning at Flemington and his only win since came in last year’s Group 3 Geelong Cup.
He has not finished further back than fifth in five runs since, including a Bagot Handicap second when he jumped well in a blindfold, but Stokes said that was likely to be removed this week in an attempt to keep him on his toes.
“We put a blindfold on him and that worked for a while and then he’s got back into old habits,” he said.
“So I’ve taken the blindfold off thinking, ‘we’ll surprise you again’.”
Amade will carry 51.5kg in the Sydney Cup, where he will clash with two horses he beat home at Geelong, with runner-up Ashrun holding down the second line of betting behind More Felons, who finished fifth in the Geelong Cup.
More Racing News
Vein Girl impresses in rich Magic Millions The Debut win
Vein Girl has put herself in contention for next month’s $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic with a strong win on debut under lights at the Gold Coast’s first night meeting. The Chris and Corey Munce-trained Vein Girl was sent out the $3.50 favourite with betting sites in Friday night’s $250,000...
Pallaton races into 2025 Golden Slipper contention
Pallaton has stamped himself as a two-year-old colt to watch heading into 2025 with an impressive debut win at Randwick. Trained by Michael Freedman and ridden by Tommy Berry, Pallaton raced to a 2-3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Shinzo @ Coolmore Plate (1000m) and firmed to be among the early favourites in Golden Slipper...
Arriving Home set to target the Magic Millions Guineas 2025
Trainer Bjorn Baker would love to get lightly raced filly Arriving Home into the Magic Millions Guineas next month after the three-year-old remained unbeaten with a tough win at Randwick. Stepping up from a midweek city maiden win at Warwick Farm on debut earlier this month into Saturday’s Petaluma Handicap (1300m) – a...
The Kings horse Gilded Water wins at Randwick
Imported stayer Gilded Water has made it back-to-back victories in Australia and has given his owner, His Majesty King Charles III, a winner at Royal Randwick. The King’s racing manager John Warren was on track at Randwick on Saturday as the Ciaron Maher-trained Gilded Water raced to a convincing victory in the...
Here To Shock gives Lindsay Park quinella in The Supernova
Ben, Will & Jd Hayes had the numbers two and three seed to knock off race-favourite Nadal in Saturday’s $1 million The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham and did just that, with Here To Shock, ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, edging stablemate Arkansaw Kid in a thrilling stable quinella. Here To Shock ($4.60) trailed a strong...
Goldman digs deep in the Pakenham Cup 2024
One time Melbourne Cup favourite, Goldman has notched up his fourth win in Australia, leading throughout to take the Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m) under Beau Mertens. Jumping an $8.50 chance, Goldman’s staying prowess was on show as he kicked back to deny Grand Pierro ($19) by a long head, with $3.30 betting site...
Kevin Daffy happy to wait with Oh Too Good ahead of VOBIS Gold Bullion
Trainer Kevin Daffy says there is still plenty of time to chase the big league with his lightly-raced mare Oh Too Good. A winner of four of her seven starts with three runner-up finishes as well, Oh Too Hard runs in the VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) at Pakenham on Saturday. Daffy was sounded...
Bedggood chases rich The Supernova prize
Two rising nine-year-olds, both resuming, will give Gavin Bedggood a potential shot at his biggest payday as a trainer. A former jockey, Bedggood has been plying his trade as a trainer since 2017 and during the recent Melbourne Spring Carnival prepared Mornington Glory to land his first Group 1 success. Just Folk and Windstorm, both...
Collett hoping for Dream Brisbane raid in BJ McLachlan Stakes and Magic Millions Falvelon
A pair of promising two-year-olds from the Ciaron Maher stable have lured top Sydney hoop Jason Collett to Queensland for back-to-back meetings this weekend. Collett is heading north to partner filly Life After Love in the $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut (1000m) at the Gold Coast on Friday night and her Maher-trained stablemate...
Theodore aims to keep strike-rate going in Christmas Cup at Murray Bridge
Trainer Stephen Theodore is looking to Divine Fire keeping his impressive strike-rate going when she shoots for a winning hat-trick on Saturday. After victories at Morphettville and Gawler, Divine Fire runs in the Christmas Cup (1600m) at Murray Bridge with Jacob Opperman in the saddle. Since returning to training ranks at the start of...