Churchill’s Choice has secured one New South Wales country feature race already during this autumn preparation, and the mare known for her powerful closing efforts will have an opportunity to claim another this Friday at Scone.
The galloper under Nathan Doyle’s training aims to follow up her success in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup by taking out the $200,000 Listed Scone Cup (1600m), which headlines Day 1 of the two-day carnival.
The four-year-old delivered a close yet convincing surprise victory at Hawkesbury on May 2, marking her initial triumph since a benchmark 72 success at Randwick back in December 2024, providing great satisfaction for Doyle.
The trainer from Newcastle would ideally like an additional week separating the Hawkesbury and Scone Cups, yet the upcoming event this week proved too enticing to overlook given her current condition.
“I don’t think she’s a horse that actually lacked too much confidence, it’s just that she was probably too relaxed in the middle stages of her races,” Doyle said.
“When they started to increase the tempo in the race, she just wanted to go through the motions a little bit, but she’s bounced through the run good and I can’t fault her.
“We think she’s quite a fresh horse, so whether the two-week turnaround is a bit quick and she may need a little bit longer time will tell, but we haven’t done much with her in between.”
The win in the Hawkesbury Cup represented Churchill’s Choice’s fourth career success, though her first since dominating her initial three outings.
The Churchill daughter finished runner-up in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) over the same weekend as the Hawkesbury Cup a year earlier, and she also placed second in the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes (1400m) during her opening run this campaign.
Regan Bayliss took the mount on Churchill’s Choice for the first time in the Hawkesbury Cup, and Doyle is eager to have him back in the saddle this weekend.
“I got Regan to have a sit on her at the trials before he rode her in the Hawkesbury Cup and he felt that flat spot she can hit and he got her through that period in Hawkesbury Cup,” he said.
“He got on his bike quite early and I think that was the difference between winning the race or running a nice fourth or fifth, which is what she’d been normally doing.”
Churchill’s Choice features among 37 nominations for the Scone Cup, alongside previous dual winners Tavi Time and Sky Lab, Cristal Clear who took the Group 2 Ajax Stakes, Depth Of Character from last year’s Queensland Guineas, and Formal Display seeking a fourth consecutive victory.
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