The James H B Carr Stakes may have slipped through Karinska’s grasp, yet the filly now faces a prime chance to secure a long-awaited stakes victory in the Group Three Hawkesbury Guineas.
At Randwick, the filly endured severe misfortune as James McDonald steered her outward for her challenge, only for the eventual victor Snitzel Dancer to push her back inside.
Karinska rallied strongly in the closing stages to claim third place, leaving trainer Chris Waller’s assistant Charlie Duckworth still frustrated by the outcome.
‘You know when jockeys come in and say, ‘I should have won’. This wasn’t a ‘should have’. There was no air of doubt. It was, ‘if I get my run, I win’,’ Duckworth said.
‘She is barging the door down to win one of these.’
The filly has held her own against top competition in her three-year-old campaign, placing close to the minor winners in the Furious Stakes and Tea Rose Stakes during spring, and later earning a Group 1 berth behind Apocalyptic in the Flight Stakes.
Tommy Berry assumes riding duties this weekend in McDonald’s absence, and echoing Duckworth’s view, he feels Karinska is primed for success.
‘Last start was a good example of how well she is going,’ Berry said.
‘She has got a great racing style, she can put herself just behind the speed.
‘You look at her last prep, the races she was running in and the quality of horses she was up against. It’s a bit of a step back from that, and the team is very confident.’
Karinska opened at $6.50 on Friday and aims to join Shazee Lee as the sole filly to triumph in the Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) in the past nine years.
Although Karinska offers Berry a solid mount, his primary focus at Hawkesbury is two-year-old Tenebaum.
The Brad Widdup-trained colt impressed under Berry in three trials before a dominant debut victory at Wyong, and the jockey sees winter carnival promise in Brisbane.
‘He is the main reason I chose to stay in Sydney instead of going to Queensland. I think he’s got the potential to be a J J Atkins horse,’ Berry said.
‘He put them away quite easily last start at Wyong and won by a margin, which is hard to do for two-year-olds.
‘The penny is just starting to drop with him. He will improve again off the weekend but to go to Queensland and be competitive in those races, he’s going to have to put in a good showing on Saturday.’
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