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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Annabel Neasham has an inkling that promising colt Ghostwriter will handle rain affected ground at Rosehill on Saturday and is hoping her decision to send him north for his first start last month will give him an edge.

Trainer Annabel Neasham. (Pic: Steve Hart).

A win, or second, in the $1m Golden Gift (1100m) will basically set up the season for a two-year-old, ensuring they have enough prizemoney to secure a place in the 2021 Golden Slipper and other features that come before it.

Ghostwriter, a $975,000 colt, made an impressive debut at Doomben on October 24 and Neasham said she’s seen evidence the trip away was a good idea.

"It probably is quite a big ask sending a two-year-old up there for his debut but he’s such a good doing colt and has such a good constitution so I thought he would cope with it,’’ she said.

“Obviously the prizemoney up there was good that day, I’m glad I sent him because I think he has come on and sharpened up mentally for the trip.”

The son of I Am Invincible is the only horse in the Golden Gift to have started in a race beyond 1000m given his Doomben win was at 1110m.

That could be a big advantage, Neasham said, and as far as a wet track goes there’s theoretical positives and negatives.

“In my head Vinnies don’t handle the wet all that well but he galloped on it on Saturday and Tuesday and the track rider came in and said he feels like a mudlark,’’ Neasham said.

“It can be a bit deceiving in the morning, I reckon it isn’t until they come off the bridle in their races you know whether they handle it.

“If you’ve got a colt that can handle all conditions it makes life a lot easier. He’s from the family of High Chaparral, who is normally a swimmer, so hopefully he takes after his mother’s side.”

There hasn’t been a lot of respect for the strength of Ghostwriter’s debut win from a market perspective as he’s $8.50 with TAB.

Neasham is confident there’s plenty more to come from the youngster who she says will continue to improve as his preparation unfolds towards his first major target of the Magic Millions.

“I called Jim Byrne in the morning of his race and said don’t stop riding him because he will keep finding under pressure and he did, he came off the bit relatively early but he kept finding,’’ she said.

“I think he will travel stronger for having that experience. Even J-Mac, when he trialled him, said he feels like he has more under bonnet and he’s yet to work out how to use it which is a good sign I guess.”

It’s been a dream start to Neasham’s training career since she stepped away from her role as assistant trainer for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s Warwick Farm stable.

She’s had 11 starters so far for four winners and only two unplaced runners and while she knows she’s been given a head start with support from the likes of Aquis with it comes the pressure to get results.

Ghostwriter wins at Doomben on October 24

“You always know in the back of your mind what these horses cost, he’s an expensive colt but he has the ability to match,’’ she said.

“I try not to put the pressure on too much and just train what’s in front of me.

“I’m extremely grateful to Aquis and Phoenix, who have bought into the horse, it’s not very often rookie trainers get horses of this calibre so it’s given me a leg up.

“The job with Ciaron was a good job to prepare myself for this, a lot of the time during Covid I was up here on my own and there was pressure on the two-year-olds going into the big races.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Golden Gift meeting at Rosehill