Divine Shadow Plans Up In The Air
Trainer Brett Pope is yet to decide on the immediate future of yesterday’s Pinjarra Cup winner Divine Shadow.
Divine Shadow scored an effortless 3.75 length win in the $120,000 feature, his first at Listed level.
Brett Pope said he wasn’t sure where he would send the gelding next but hinted at a winter campaign.
“That was our main target for him this prep,” he told TABradio.
“He will probably have a little break now and I’m not sure with his rating if there’s any options over the winter.
“He’s proven on soft ground so if there’s a couple of races over the winter we might have a go at them.”
It was a well-deserved feature win for the five-year-old, who finished in the top three in each of the Coolgardie, Boulder and Kalgoorlie Cups last year.
Jockey Steven Parnham sent Divine Shadow forward to sit outside race favourite and leader Trap For Fools, before he stormed away over the final 200m.
Pope said he was confident he had the race in his keeping on the turn for home, given the way Divine Shadow cruised into the race.
“The way he was travelling on the corner, they don’t normally travel up like that in a feature race,” he said.
“It was like a track gallop the way he joined in outside of Trap For Fools and I thought ‘I don’t want to go the early crow but I think we’re going pretty good’.”
Divine Shadow entered the Pinjarra Cup off the back of two fifth place finishes in the Bunbury Cup (2000m) and South West Cup (2219m).
Pope said he felt Divine Shadow was a touch underdone in both of those races and had him spot on for yesterday’s feature.
“He went into the Bunbury Cup just a little underdone and just peaked 150m out,” he said.
“In the South West Cup the other day, I reckon I buggered up because I bored the work up to him a bit and he raced a bit dour that day.
“We took him out to the farm and gave him a freshen-up out there and he had a lot better turn-of-foot yesterday.”