Unbeaten youngsters and Golden Slipper contenders Rivellino and Shaggy are set to clash at Royal Randwick on Saturday week.
Wyong trainer Allan Kehoe’s decision to switch tack with Shaggy has paved the way for an exciting meeting between the pair in the Group 2 Skyline Stakes (1200m) for colts and geldings.
The winner automatically gains exemption from a ballot, should one be necessary, for the $5m Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 22.
Shaggy hasn’t been nominated for the world’s richest two-year-old event, and connections will have to fork out $150,000 as a late entry fee if they decided to proceed after the Skyline.
Kehoe initially had intended to go to the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Randwick a week later with his brilliant juvenile, but has had second thoughts.
“Shaggy pulled up in fantastic order after winning the Pierro Plate (1100m) at Randwick last Saturday, and has had a couple of days at the farm,” he said.
“He went back to our Wyong stable this afternoon.
“It was three weeks between his Sunshine Coast win and the Pierro Plate, and by going to the Skyline instead of the Todman, it will give him another three weeks to the Slipper.
“Kris Lees (Rivellino’s trainer) approached me at Newcastle races today and asked where I was going with Shaggy.”
Kehoe’s decision to switch races has not altered Lees’ plans with Rivellino.
“We’re definitely going to the Skyline,” he said.
“I’m really happy with how he has trained on since winning the Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Randwick on February 8.”
However, Lees expects to be seeking a new jockey for Rivellino in the Skyline.
James McDonald partnered the Too Darn Hot colt in both an 800m Randwick trial on February 28, and his $2m Millennium defeat of previously unbeaten filly Within The Law.
“It’s not yet confirmed, but I think James will be required for one of Chris Waller’s two-year-olds in the Skyline,” Lees said.
Shaggy currently is at $15 for the Slipper with TAB.com.au, and Rivellino is at $26.
. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s outstanding young sprinter Private Harry further enhanced his prospects of winning a Group 1 on debut with a sizzling Rosehill barrier trial victory this morning.
The three-year-old colt led throughout in the 1000m trial on the course proper, and was never at his top in defeat last spring’s Melbourne Group 1 winner, the highly-rated Sunshine In Paris.
“Private Harry felt great,” jockey Ash Morgan said this evening after a busy day which also included rides at the Newcastle meeting.
“I didn’t go out to break records, but he seemed as though he was going half pace.”
Following his trial win, Private Harry is an even more dominant favorite at $2.80 for the $1m Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill on March 22.
RacingNSW handicappers have advised connections his benchmark rating will rise to 97 after his fourth win on end in the $3m Sunlight Plate (1100m) at the Sunshine Coast in early January.
“As a result we are expecting he will get 51kg in The Galaxy, and Ash has assured us he will make the weight,” said Sean Driver, principal of Kurrinda Bloodstock, in whose colours Private Harry races.
“The colt is flying, and we don’t know what his ceiling is.
“He will have another trial early next month, and we’re really looking forward to The Galaxy.”
Story John Curtis, February 18, 2025 - Pics Bradley Photos
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