Jye McNeil was the star of the show at Caulfield on Saturday and he is hoping it can be a similar story next week when Group One racing returns to that track.
The 2020 Melbourne Cup winner, who rode a career-best five city winners on Saturday, will be reunited with Golden Eagle winner I’m Thunderstruck (NZ) (Shocking) when he resumes in the $750,000 Gr.1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m).
McNeil, who now has 44 Victorian city winners for the season and leads the premiership by 11 wins, was aboard the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained gelding in last Monday’s 1000-metre jumpout at Cranbourne and said while there is plenty of improvement to come he liked what he felt.
“He went through his gears really nicely,” McNeil said of the hit-out, in which I’m Thunderstruck finished second to Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma).
“He’s come back bigger and stronger and he’s got a real presence about him now, which is great, and hopefully he’s in for his great campaign.
“He’s probably not as forward as he was last campaign first-up (into the Sir Rupert Clarke Sakes), but we’ll be looking for him to run a good race and build off that.”
The New Zealand-bred son of Shocking rounded out a stellar first year in Australian with wins in the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and A$7.5m Million Golden Eagle (1500m) to take his record to six wins from nine starts.
McNeil was aboard in the Toorak but was forced to look on from Flemington when the Golden Eagle was run at Rosehill on Derby Day with Hugh Bowman the winning rider.
McNeil is keen to weld himself to the four-year-old this campaign, which is being geared around the A$5 million All-Star Mile (1600m), for which he is favourite, and A$3 million Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m).
“It was just due to circumstances that I missed out last time, but hopefully I can partner up with him well and keep the ride on him. Hopefully he can live up to last campaign this campaign.”
