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Rosehill Cup a one in a million shot for Think It Over

3 minute read

The decision to stay home and chase the Sydney spring riches has already been a lucrative one for all concerned with Think It Over and trainer Kerry Parker hopes his stable star has another big run in him at Rosehill on Saturday.

THINK IT OVER. Picture: Steve Hart

The Kypreos Group Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) is carries $750,000 ($430,500 to the winner) in prizemoney but it's also worth an extra $1 million if the six-year-old is good enough to win.

That's because when Think It Over won the Group 3 Craven Plate two weeks ago he became eligible for the bonus should he be good enough to win the Rosehill Gold Cup.

Parker said the horse is racing in career best form but knows with 61kg under handicap conditions this time it will take a supreme performance.

"It's not an easy challenge, he has to turn up and earn it and have a lot of things go his way,'' he said.

"It's been a terrific preparation, the horse has turned up and raced really well every time we've stepped him out.

"I'm not going in there thinking it's going to be easy. He has 61kg and there's a few horses there with 4-5kg turnaround on us. You've got to earn it.

"All we can do is prepare as best we can and leave it up to him."

Think It Over, $2.80 favourite with TAB on Thursday, has won three of his last four starts with the only defeat in that time coming with his close third to Verry Elleegant in the Group 1 George Main Stakes.

After scrambling in to beat Shared Ambition in the Group 2 Hill Stakes (2000m) he asserted some authority by stretching clear in the Craven Plate on Everest Day and with an ideal barrier on Saturday Parker can only hope it pans out similarly.

"He doesn't leave much in the tank, he has a good dig and is thriving on his racing,'' he said.

"The other day he was able to get into a good rhythm with Lion's Roar leading at a better tempo, they really crawled the start before.

"He could go through his gears and let down, it was a lot easier watch and I think I was clapping with 200m to go. He's in a good frame of mind, he bounced out of that last win with a bit of confidence.

"I tend to think we are probably at his top now. He's matured, a fully developed racehorse. We always knew it was going to take time, that five and six year-old is what we were always waiting to get to.

"His top is pretty good and hopefully he can stay up in the elite where he's racing now for a while."

The gelding did his major piece of work for the week on Tuesday and Parker said both he and Four Pillars runner Tampering "walked away smiling" after their work.

Tampering has had a breather since his third placing behind Canyonero in a 1600m Midway at Randwick in mid-September and Parker said it was just what the horse needed.

"When he pulls up he knows he's had a run, it can take him a couple of days,'' he said.

"As soon as I heard about this race he'd had those three tough runs in the Midways so I was quite happy to give him a week in the paddock and prepare him nice and fresh.

"He puts it all out there, he can work pretty hard and he's very genuine."

Tampering, $26 with TAB, has raced in or near the lead in those three Midway races and Parker said while he expects him to be up there somewhere he doesn't have to lead.