Big Dance keeping Neasham on her toes with Sibaaq
By Chris Roots
Trainer Annabel Neasham will have a race in five months on her mind when Wellington Cup winner Sibaaq goes around at Rosehill on Saturday.
The last-start win made the import eligible for The Big Dance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day, and the task now is to get his benchmark to the right level.
Sibaaq wins at Beverley in England before coming form Down Under.Credit:Getty
“You want to make sure he has enough to get into the $2 million race, but you won’t want to get too much,” Neasham said.
“It is a balancing act for us. He will probably have this run and then a short break to go into the Big Dance second or third-up. It’s the target.
“These import horses don’t need big breaks, so a couple of weeks out and then we will come again with him, and I think he is getting better all the time.
“He is the right horse for a race like The Big Dance.”
Another win will probably secure Sibaaq a start in The Big Dance. He will run off an 82-rating in Saturday’s benchmark 78, for which he is topweight at 62kg. Stable apprentice Ellen Hennessy will claim three kilograms to bring the impost down to 59kg.
“She deserves the chances on horses like this because she is very hard-working and improving all the time,” Neasham said of Hennessy.
“She is getting full books, which is a good sign for an apprentice, and she gives us a good advantage with her claim.”
Neasham is pleased to see the track return to a good surface for Sibaaq, which was runner-up at a boggy Gold Coast on his Australian debut before his Wellington Cup win at Dubbo on a heavy track.
“The thing with him is that his work has never been as good on wet tracks,” Neasham said. “Both his runs have been on soft tracks and I think, although both have been good, there will be a lot of improvement left there on a good track.
“He has a big weight and a wide draw on Saturday, but he’s ready to go to another level.”
While Hennessy will be used to offset Sibaaq’s topweight later in the day, Neasham will use her apprentice’s ability to ride light on African Daisy.
The three-year-old filly has 52.5kg but Hennessy will take her full 3kg claim to bring the weight down to 49.5kg and give African Daisy the chance to turn the tables on Willinga Rufio, which she was second to by 2¾ lengths last start.
“Not many fillies get to carry only 49.5 kilos these days, and she is another one that will be helped by a better track,” Neasham said.
“I thought the last run was pretty good and she is a filly that stays well. The winner was pretty good but hopefully we can be a bit closer to him.”
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