A big spring could be about to get even bigger for Annabel Neasham, who has feature race chances in two states on Saturday including a pair of in-form horses in the Five Diamonds.
In just her third season as a trainer, Neasham has been represented in many of the major races this spring, winning the Epsom Handicap with Top Ranked and saddling up runners in the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate, Golden Eagle and Coolmore Stud Stakes.
On Saturday at Flemington, she will have Group 1 runners in the Champions Stakes (Zaaki and Mo’unga) and Champions Mile (My Oberon), while in Sydney former Europeans Laws Of Indices and Sibaaq will fly the feature race flag for the stable in the inaugural Five Diamonds (1800m).
Laws Of Indices ($4.80) is considered Neasham’s top seed and brings Group 1 formlines from Melbourne, highlighted by a slashing second in the Toorak Handicap and another game performance in the Cox Plate.
“He has shown us good signs in Sydney since he got back, he is working really well,” Neasham’s racing manager Rob Archibald said.
“If he can carry that form from his first three runs into the Five Diamonds, he should run a huge race.”
The biggest issue for Laws of Indices would appear to be his record on firm tracks, the horse unplaced in seven starts on good ground.
However, the stable believes those statistics are deceiving and Archibald expects Laws Of Indices to relish a dry surface.
“He’s a very sound horse and we actually think he’s better on top of the ground,” Archibald said.
“He just hasn’t had a chance to show it.”
Sibaaq backs up in the race after finishing third in the Big Dance at Randwick on Tuesday and while Saturday’s test will be his sternest yet, he is a horse yet to reach his ceiling.
The gelding has enjoyed a few mornings at the beach to help him cope with the quick back-up and Archibald says Sibaaq is capable of another bold run despite his double-figure odds.
“He’s a five-year-old but these Europeans tend to just get better with age and he’s certainly running well at the moment,” he said.