Despite holding a entry for the Gr.1 Goodwood (1200m) next Saturday last start Group One winner Ruthless Dame (NZ) (Tavistock) will instead target the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400) next month.
The Goodwood at Morphettville on Saturday carries A$500,000 in prize money but pales in comparison with some of the rich sprints in Brisbane during the Winter Carnival.
The powerful Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stables took the first two Group One races of the Adelaide Carnival with Affaire A Suivre (NZ) (Astern) winning the Australasian Oaks (2000m) and three-year-old filly Ruthless Dame beating the older mares in the Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m).
Ruthless Dame was looking to be the main seed for The Goodwood, but she will instead head north for the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm on June 10.
“She came home after the Sangster,” Eustace said.
“She’s good fresh and she’s only going to have 51-½ kilos in the Stradbroke and frankly the prize money is hard to knock back up in Brisbane.
“It’s A$3 million for the Straddie and half-a-million for the Goodwood, so it just makes a bit more sense to go that way.
“Unfortunately, the Group One’s over there (Adelaide) are going to suffer a bit because the prize money is not good enough.”
Eustace said Ruthless Dame had come through the Sangster Stakes in excellent order.
“She’s had a very quiet week back here, then she’ll head up to the Sydney stable and be prepared for the Stradbroke from up there,” Eustace said.
“She’ll have a trial on May 29 and then she’ll just travel up before the race.
“She’s a good traveller which is a plus.”
With 51.5kg expected to be Ruthless Dame’s Stradbroke weight, Maher and Eustace have already booked in-form lightweight Michael Dee for the ride.
Bred by Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock, Ruthless Dame is a graduate of Gordon Cunningham’s Curraghmore. Out of the stakes-placed Keeper mare Ruthless Lady (NZ), Ruthless Dame was bought by Ciaron Maher Racing for $90,000 at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales.
