Champion mare Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) has come to the fork in the road, with a decision to be made sometime in the coming week as to where she heads to for her next run en route to the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m).
The two races under consideration for Chris Waller’s six-year-old are the Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington or the Gr.2 Hill Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
Both races are worth $1 million, are over 2000m, and will be run on October 2.
Part-owner Brae Sokolski confirmed that a call hadn’t been made and outlined some of the factors in the decision-making process for the connections.
“I know Chris is certainly leaning towards the Turnbull because that’s his tried and proven formula of having a run down south before the grand final,” Sokolski said.
“The other thing in favour of the Turnbull is it’s a Group One, and we feel like this mare’s entitled to be running in Group One level every time she goes around.
“Prizemoney is definitely secondary in my estimation to the status of a race when you’re dealing with a horse of her calibre, it’s not about the prizemoney, it’s about achievement, so that does play in favour of the Turnbull.
“The other thing in favour of going to the Turnbull obviously is also giving Damian Lane a sit on her before the Cox Plate, so that also can’t be underestimated, the value of that, given how complex a horse she is to ride.
“From a selfish standpoint, I would obviously like to separate her and Incentivise and Sir Dragonet (given his ownership interests), but it may well be they all clash in that race.
“At the end of the day, Chris will decide, and it will be the race that’s the best steppingstone into the Cox Plate.”
While the Cox Plate may be the grand final at this point for Verry Elleegant, a start in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) could also be on the cards for the former New Zealander, who received 57kg for the race when the weights were released last Tuesday.
“I think that Greg (Carpenter) weighted her fairly,” Sokolski said.
“I expected 57kg, and that’s what we received.
“I think she deserves to be weighted at weight for age.
“It’s a big impost, you can’t underestimate it, it’s only a kilo less than what Makybe Diva carried to win her third Melbourne Cup, but by the same token, I don’t think it’s unreasonable, and I think that the champions can have a habit of making fools of history.
“Our mare, I still think she can win with that impost, I really do, and I think provided she comes through the Cox Plate well and Chris is happy with her, we’ll be forging ahead to the race.”
Sokolski also noted that the 2021 renewal of the famous two-mile event would be the last time that it would be on the agenda for Verry Elleegant.
“What I could say unequivocally, is this is her last chance to run in a Melbourne Cup,” he said.
“There’s no way we would run her in the race after this year, especially as she’s just won another Group One.”
That Group One came yesterday in the George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick and was Verry Elleegant’s ninth win at the highest level.
For Sokolski, that fact means that she’s worthy of ‘champion’ status.
“For me, the most important thing is to have the universal validation that she’s a champion, and I’ve been pushing that message for some time, and whilst there’s certainly been some support, I think it’s been subject to conjecture, and I think what she did yesterday has put that to bed once and for all and has proven herself unequivocally a champion of the Australian turf,” he said.
“Chris Waller, who I think is the harshest judge of the threshold for determining a champion, himself came out and made that statement. In my mind, he’s the highest authority on the matter.
“I do think it’s been harder for her in the context of the shadow that Winx cast and the fact that she’s immediately followed.
“The bottom line is, she is coming into her prime, and I do think that there are a good two seasons of her at her peak still to come, so who knows where her career may finally end up.
“Certainly, if she’s to win one of the major races, the Cox Plate or the Melbourne Cup, this spring, she would take her place rightfully in the pantheon of Australia’s greatest racehorses.”
