She Will Reign in eye-catching trial
Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign is on target for her next campaign after a solid barrier trial.
She Will Reign’s trainer Gary Portelli might not have been on track to see the Golden Slipper winner in her latest barrier trial but from his point of view, all is going to plan.
The filly ran second to speedster Super Too over 800 metres on the Warwick Farm course proper on Monday with race jockey Ben Melham aboard.
Portelli had made it clear he did not want She Will Reign in a speed battle with the free-running Super Too and Melham tracked the leader all the way.
She Will Reign closed the margin to 1-1/4 lengths under a hold.
“We had organised our flights back from the Gold Coast a while ago before this trial had been programmed in,” Portelli said.
“It didn’t matter. Ben did everything we talked about. Once we knew Super Too was in the trial, I didn’t want to get involved in going with her so it all worked out.
“She Will Reign will have another trial before the Inglis race on February 10.”
The $250,000 Inglis Sprint is also a target for boom Melbourne three-year-old Nature Strip.
Also the winner of the Group One Moir Stakes in September, She Will Reign gave Darby Racing and Portelli a first Golden Slipper win in 2017 and they bought her half brother at the Magic Millions sale last week.
For this year’s Slipper, Portelli is keen to see if Exceltic can get there after he notched his third barrier trial win on Monday.
“He will run over 1100 metres at Rosehill on the 27th and we’ll see how far he can go,” he said.