
Well-performed mare Kimochi will chase her second elite victory over 1400m at the final Group One meeting of the Sydney autumn carnival.
She’ll step back up to 1400m for the first time this campaign in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
The All-Aged and the Champagne Stakes (1600m for two-year-olds) are the final Group 1 races of the Sydney autumn.
Kimochi hit the line strongly for second first-up in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) last month, followed by a game fifth in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) on April 5, won by Briasa.
Trainer Gary Portelli said the All-Aged Stakes has been on his radar for Kimochi this autumn, with the mare having already won a Group 1 over 1400m in Melbourne last spring in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.
“She’s come through the run well (in the TJ Smith) and she’s in good order,” Portelli said.
Portelli is hopeful of a better barrier draw compared to the TJ Smith Stakes, where Kimochi was trapped three-wide.
“Had we drawn a better gate, we would have got a better result,” Portelli added.
Portelli’s other runner for Saturday is four-year-old gelding Encap, who will race over 2000m in the Group 3 JRA Plate after a close third in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile.