2017 G1 Golden Slipper S. heroine She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) won a 900-metre trial at Rosehill on Tuesday, covering the distance in :52.90. She Will Reign will make her seasonal debut in the G1 Moir S. at Moonee Valley on the night of Friday, Sept. 29 before tackling Royal Randwick's The Everest on Oct. 14. She Will Reign fills the slot for Yu Long Investments in that 1200m feature and will be ridden by Ben Melham. Kerrin McEvoy, who will ride She Will Reign in the Moir, with Melham unable to make the 3-year-old's weight, was on board for the trial.
“They don't break :53 [seconds] very often,” trainer Gary Portelli told Racing.com. “I've seen them run :53 1/2 and thought that was fast, but she ran :52-something. Everything went like clockwork this morning. She's her usual relaxed self. She did what she had to do. She's a pretty laconic horse these days and it was great to see her hit the line good and she pulled up enormous.”
“He [McEvoy] just jumped on for feel,” Portelli said. “He was happy with the way she relaxed and happy with the way she quickened. I said 'it looks like it took awhile for her to hit her top?' and he said 'no, I think it was the track. It was pretty rough.'”
Portelli was cognizant of the stigma against resuming Golden Slipper winners and said, “She's just got to step-up now. The 2-year-old hoodoo. We'll see if we can get rid of it. We'll race her Friday night and get her home as fast as we can. We might even leave Saturday night or Sunday morning. We find the quicker you get them home, the less chance of anything going wrong and they love their own feed bin.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
