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Rosehill Guineas winner D’Argento is expected to have only one more start before he lines up in the $1 million Epsom Handicap at Randwick on September 29.
Trainer Chris Waller intends to give D’Argento his next start in the G2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on September 8.
The big grey will then go into the Epsom third-up, having resumed with an excellent third behind his superstar stablemate Winx under wfa conditions at Randwick on August 18 in the race that carried her name for the first time.Significantly D’Argento was not among the big list of horses Waller nominated for the G2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) and G2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) – both traditional Epsom lead-ups – at Randwick this weekend.
“We’ll hold him back for the Theo Marks and then keep him sharp and go straight into the Epsom,” said Waller.“In the Epsom he’ll have a reasonable weight. That will be his chance to win a Group One handicap.”
Waller has become the king of the big mile races at Randwick over the last decade, a mantle once shared by the late champions Tommy Smith and Bart Cummings and inherited by Gai Waterhouse.Smith trained seven Epsom Handicap winners and seven Doncaster Mile winners; Cummings won the Doncaster six times and the Epsom three times; Gai Waterhouse has won both races seven times to equal her father and Waller’s score stands at seven Doncasters and three Epsoms.
Waller has a wide array of contenders for this year’s Epsom with a big number expected to start on Saturday in either the Chelmsford Stakes or the Tramway Stakes.Waller’s eight Chelmsford Stakes entries are Single Gaze, One Foot In Heaven, Religify, Libran, Unforgotten, I Am Coldplay, Satono Rasen and Patrick Erin.
Satono Rasen is also nominated for the Tramway Stakes along with stablemates Comin’ Through, Egg Tart, Foxplay, Life Less Ordinary, Tom Melbourne, Youngstar and Sambro.Meanwhile Waller says Winx’s weight is the most positive sign that she has come through her first-up win in top order.
"She was 545kg going into the race and she was 542kg coming out of it. She looks better for it," Waller said."She just does it so easy. It doesn’t really affect her weight,.
“It’s one of the reasons she runs so well through the whole prep. She’s incredible."Winx will have her next start in the $500,000 Colgate Optic White George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on September 15 before heading to Melbourne and date with destiny in the WS Cox Plate at Moonee Valey on October 27.
She is replicating her spring program of last year with the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington expected to be the race that sets her up for her bid to win the Cox Plate for an historic fourth time.