Mick Kent will let his exciting mare Eternal Flame dictate where she ends up, but he’s happy to back her potential and put in a nomination for the Cox Plate.
Kent’s initial spring aim for Eternal Flame will be the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington, as he is keen to get her to 1600 metres and then take it from there, with a shot at the Moonee Valley feature not out of the question.
“She will start off in mares’ races with the idea that she will head to the Empire Rose Stakes. I’ll nominate her for the Cox Plate in case she improves a few lengths,” Kent said.
Eternal Flame put together back-to-back wins in March in the G3 Matron Stakes at Flemington and then G2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley, both over 1600m.
She then went to Sydney and finished eighth in the G1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick, which was a sound effort as she missed the start by two lengths and was then held up in the closing stages before only being beaten by 2.66 lengths by Zougotcha.
The rising five-year-old mare has only had 13 starts and has a lot of upside according to Kent, who said she will return to racing in a mares Stakes race at the end of August or early September.
Kent, who only works a team of 20, said Eternal Flame is his best spring prospect. His boutique team also includes promising stayers Steel Run and Samuel Langhorne.
