High Emocean produced a career peak off a quick turnaround in the spring and trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace have deliberately applied the same formula for her Sydney Cup bid.
The mare finished a slashing third to stablemate Gold Trip at her only other attempt over the two-mile journey in last year’s Melbourne Cup, six days after earning her place in the field with a Bendigo Cup (2400m) win.
While backing her up was an experiment at the time, it worked so well that Maher and Eustace opted to employ it again, sending High Emocean around in the Chairman’s Handicap last weekend ahead of her primary mission in Saturday’s Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick.
“I didn’t know she could back up going into Flemington, but we were confident that was the right path for her and she ran the best race of her career in the Melbourne Cup so we mapped a similar plan,” Maher said.
“She travelled up to Sydney in preps gone by and hadn’t gone well, we were mindful of that, so we got her up here early.
“She has settled in and she is holding condition a lot better this time around.
“She’s a mare in form and she is down with the right weight (51kg).”
High Emocean signalled she was on target for the Sydney Cup with an eye-catching fourth in the Chairman Handicap (2600m) when she came from last at the 800m.
She will be one of a quartet of runners for Maher and Eustace in Saturday’s $2 million staying contest, along with Gold Trip, 2021 ATC Australian Derby victor Explosive Jack and recent recruit Alakahan.
Gold Trip will be aiming to become the fifth horse to claim the Melbourne and Sydney Cups in the same season and the first since grand mare Makybe Diva in 2003-04.
He carted 57.5kg to victory at Flemington and has to lump an extra two kilos on Saturday but on his favoured soft surface, Maher expects a bold run.
“He was super in the Melbourne Cup with the big weight,” Maher said.
“He’s got a big weight again but if he gets those conditions he’ll be thereabouts.”
Alakahan will be having his third start for the stable after he was narrowly beaten in the Manion Cup (2400m) last start while Explosive Jack is another looking to get his toe in the ground after finishing midfield on a firm track in the Tancred Stakes (2400m).