Are the stars finally aligning for Icebath to win a big race?
A short head, a head, and a short half-head.
They are the margins Icebath has been denied by in a trio of major races – the first time by Colette in the 2020 Golden Eagle, then Cascadian in the 2021 Doncaster Mile and finally Superstorm in last year’s Cantala Stakes.
Add to that another 10 minor placings in stakes races and it is little wonder the six-year-old is considered one of the most luckless horses in training, and arguably the best not to have claimed a black-type win.
“It’s hard to believe she hasn’t won a stakes race,” trainer Brad Widdup said.
“That’s what we do it for, to have these sort of horses in our stable and obviously you want to win one of these sort of races while you’ve got one. You want to make the most of it.
“But nobody gives you anything in this game, you’ve just got to go out there and have a crack.”
Widdup and Icebath are having another crack in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday for which the $4.5 million earner is a $3.80 favourite.
The mare heads into the race off consecutive seconds behind two of the best horses in the country, Zaaki in the Tramway Stakes (1400m) and Anamoe in the George Main Stakes (1600m).
Most significantly, she gets there having enjoyed a faultless preparation, unlike the autumn when her home track of Hawkesbury was flooded and Widdup was unable to gallop her.
“We’ve had a fantastic prep with her and we haven’t had to deal with floods this time through,” Widdup said.
“I think people forget, we were under water last preparation and she still ran third in a Doncaster and third in a Queen Of The Turf when we had no trackwork on.
“She is going as well as ever. I don’t know if you could call it career-best, but she is in great order.”
Champion jockey James McDonald will partner the backmarker from a midfield draw in the Epsom, where she should be suited by the smaller-than-usual field of 11 and appears set to strike her favoured rain-affected conditions.
But can she break her black-type duck and deliver Widdup a cherished first Group 1?
“No race is easy, there is good opposition there and we just have to see what happens,” Widdup said.
“Hopefully a bit of luck rubs our way for once.”
Cameron Handicap placegetter Character is an early scratching from the Epsom with trainer James Cummings instead opting to run him in the Paris Lane Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday.