SHE defied the international invasion in the spring to win the Caulfield Cup and Southern Speed's trainer Leon Macdonald said yesterday he was anticipating a similar result in the European-dominated Australian Cup at Flemington on Saturday, reports The Age. Its report adds: Southern Speed drifted in the market for the $1 million group 1 cup following the Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield last month, but Macdonald said a number of factors worked against her when she was unplaced, four lengths behin
SHE defied the international invasion in the spring to win the Caulfield Cup and Southern Speed's trainer Leon Macdonald said yesterday he was anticipating a similar result in the European-dominated Australian Cup at Flemington on Saturday, reports The Age.
Its report adds: Southern Speed drifted in the market for the $1 million group 1 cup following the Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield last month, but Macdonald said a number of factors worked against her when she was unplaced, four lengths behind the winner Lucas Cranach.
''The one thing I keep coming back to was that it was a very hot day and I really did think it affected her,'' he said. ''She raced a bit flat [and] she did sit three-wide throughout.
''I'm not a jockey bagger but that wasn't one of Craig's [Williams] better rides. On Saturday, I want her to be ridden a bit quieter like she was when she won first-up and then again in the Orr [Stakes] when she really found the line.''
Southern Speed is the only locally bred and raced horse among the top eight favourites for the weight-for-age race. The five horses above her in the market all began their racing careers in Europe as did the two horses immediately after her in the betting. Macdonald said he could not be happier with Southern Speed's condition.