3 minute read
Far from disgraced in The Quokka, Simon Miller is still open minded about Amelia’s Jewel’s pathway to the Golden Eagle.
Trainer Simon Miller knows exactly how good Amelia's Jewel is and was just as pleased with her effort when narrowly beaten in the inaugural running of The Quokka, however the question still remains whether Western Australia's star filly is a sprinter or a miler as he plots her path to the rich Golden Eagle (1500m) in October.
"The Golden Eagle is the aim, but it is just how we get there," Miller said.
"Do we go to The Everest as a lead-up or take more traditional lead-ups via the Melbourne or Sydney routes.
"I still don't even know what she is. Is she a sprinter or a miler?"
It presents an interesting insight into how a top line trainer can still face these questions with an already successful and versatile horse on their hands.
With her narrow second placing to Overpass in Saturday's The Quokka (1200m) and having won over 1000-metres on debut as a two-year-old (Listed Supremacy Stakes), at 1400 metres (Listed Burgess Queen Stakes), at a mile (Group 2 WA Guineas), and at Group 1 level over 1800 metres in the Northerly Stakes last December, the conundrum is fair.
The Rupert Clark Stakes (1400m) and then the Toorak Handicap (1600m) - both at Group level at Caulfield - or the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick are all pathway options outside of the $15 million lure of The Everest (1200m).
The answer could lie in the numbers and Racing & Sports expert Adam Blencowe says they could lean to the longer events.
"Amelia's Jewel has been too good in the Roma Cup and Quokka to categorically state that she is not a sprinter," Adam said.
"Among the three-year-olds, only Giga Kick, In Secret, Coolangatta and Lofty Strike can claim to have posted a better number over sprint trips this season, but as good as Amelia's Jewel has been seen sprinting, there are hints that she will be even better returned to a mile or thereabouts.
"Strength rather than speed has been the asset underpinning Amelia's Jewel's numbers to this point.
"She has been strongest in the finish in all but two of her nine starts and her ratings took a turn in the right direction when going to a mile and 1800m in the spring.
"Beyond sprint trips she remains largely untapped and unknown."
The challenge for Amelia's Jewel is that she can tread a path not taken by other Golden Eagle winners before her.
"Amelia's Jewel is rated higher than any of the four Golden Eagle winners to date were at three and is already rated better than a typical placegetter in the Eagle over that four-year span," Blencowe adds.
"Predictive modelling shows her ahead of the winners of the Caulfield, Australian, Randwick and Rosehill Guineas winners – the best candidates for that race at this stage."
With an invitation to Royal Ascot in 2024 in the offing, Amelia's Jewel could be the prime Australian attraction next year.
Her record currently stands at seven wins and two placings in nine starts with more than $2.3 million in prizemoney.
