Richard Litt will saddle up two stakes runners at Rosehill but it his Midway Handicap contender he would prefer to discuss.
“Why does no-one ask me about Catapult? He might be my only winner on Saturday,” Litt said.
Litt might regard Catapult as his best winning chance, but 2021 Gloaming Stakes contender Profondo is his most interesting runner.
A $1.9 million yearling purchase, Profondo is a son of Japanese sire Deep Impact out of 2016 Widden Stakes winner Honesty Prevails.
He got the job done on debut with a determined victory over 1400m on the Kensington track and steps straight up to Group 3 grade.
Litt is keeping a lid on expectations and won’t be drawn on making comparisons between Profondo and his dual Group 1 winner Castelvecchio.
But he does expect a distance rise to 1800m in the Gloaming Stakes to suit his colt and says Profondo’s performance will dictate whether they press on to the Spring Champions Stakes (2000m) next month.
“There’s no pressure on him,” Litt said.
“There’s lots of nice races coming up, so we’ll just assess him after this run.”
Master Shuhood will fly the stable’s flag in the Group 3 Colin Stephen Quality (2400m) and has been a model of consistency since joining Litt from the Chris Waller yard.
The seven-year-old has managed a top-four finish at his past four starts, including two runs ago in the Wyong Cup when he was just behind the placegetters.
“He’s an absolute dude and he’ll run his heart out,” Litt said.
“Whether it’s good enough to win, I don’t know, but he’s absolutely flying and we couldn’t be happier with him.
“He came to us from Chris’ in wonderful order, but a little change of atmosphere is probably all he needed.”