Promising Gulgong filly Plucky Star will make her metropolitan debut at Royal Randwick this Saturday.
The Brett Thompson-trained three-year-old will line up in the Class 2 TAB Highway Handicap (1400m).
“I can’t wait to get her on a wide open track,” Thompson said. “She gets back and works home so the long straight at Randwick will suit her.”
From just six starts Plucky Star has recorded two wins and two seconds.
In her most recent outing in the Gilgandra Toyota Class 2 Plate (1200m) on New Year’s Day she travelled three wide the whole way but managed to fly home down the outside to be just beaten for second.
Prior to that she notched a gutsy win in a class 2 1200m race at Narromine and even when 6th at Wellington on 26 November, she hit the line strongly.
“She’s still a bit green but she’s improving all the time,” Thompson said. “She certainly has ability."
“I can attribute most things she has done wrong to a tight track.
“I was going to scratch her from Narromine because she drew the outside gate but even though she sat wide all the way, she still was able to make up ground.”
The query for Thompson is the 1400m but he is happy to have a go and let the horse show him what she wants.
“You don’t know truly know what they are capable of until you push them out there,” he said. “By the way she hits the line in the 1200m I think she wants further but we’ll wait and see. She needs to get rolling a bit earlier and if she can improve on last time she will be competitive.”
Stablemate Pencita is also nominated for the TAB Highway Handicap on Saturday but will most likely be saved for a 1100m Class 1 race at Wellington.
A strong performance there would see Thompson send her to Sydney.
Thompson has only had one crack at a Highway race and that was with Landuar who finished 5th to Handwritten in August last year.
“We’re really looking forward to the race this weekend,” Thompson said.
“We’ve got a great group of owners from all over the place who have been with me for a long time. They follow the horse around so it’d be fantastic to get a result.”