A slight concern over the reduced distance is the only worry for connections of Skyhook as he prepares to extend his winning streak to four in this Saturday’s $1 million Silver Eagle at Randwick.
The four-year-old has found a strong vein of form since being ridden aggressively upfront, securing the Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) back in May and winning three of his subsequent four starts.
He remains unbeaten in two starts this campaign, claiming the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) first-up and delivering a dominant performance in the Shannon Stakes (1500m) last time out.
However, he does face a 200m drop in distance for Saturday’s Silver Eagle (1300m), which serves as his final preparation race before the Golden Eagle (1500m) a fortnight later. Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou acknowledges this as his sole reservation.
“Really happy with him, and he’ll take his place in the Silver Eagle,” Alexiou stated.
“He’s been in a really good groove all preparation. He does have to come back to 1300, which may be a little question mark with him coming back from 1500.”
“But he seems to have freshened up well, so hopefully we’ve got a bit more speed in his legs for that.”
Skyhook is currently the third favourite for the Golden Eagle, with his odds shortening to $8 after Sheza Alibi drifted from $1.60 to $1.80 following an unexpected defeat last Saturday. Beiwacht is the second favourite at $6.
Meanwhile, Skyhook’s stablemate Matias will be advancing his claims for The Big Dance on Saturday, set to compete in the $160,000 Big Dance Wild Card (1600m).
The winner of the Frank Packer Plate (2000m) in the autumn, Matias commenced his current campaign with a respectable fourth in the Cameron Handicap (1400m) at Newcastle and has since had a trial to maintain his fitness.
“Hopefully he can run first or second in that race and qualify himself for a Big Dance or Little Dance,” Alexiou commented.
“He went to the Cameron Handicap a little bit underdone off only one trial, but you can’t run in the Wild Card if you haven’t run in a qualifier, and that was his chance to run in a qualifier, so he went there with improvement to come.”
Alexiou confirmed that the talented filly Chilly Girl has been sent to the spelling paddock and will be targeted towards The Sunlight at the Gold Coast in January.
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