Churchill’s Choice enters this autumn with a New South Wales regional feature to her credit, and the late-charging mare has a shot at another this Friday during the Scone meeting.
The Nathan Doyle-prepared runner will attempt to string together wins from the Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup into the $200,000 Listed Scone Cup (1600m), the key race on day one of the two-day event.
On May 2 at Hawkesbury, the four-year-old posted a narrow but decisive boilover, her breakthrough since the benchmark 72 at Randwick in December 2024, which was rewarding for Doyle.
An extra week’s rest between the Cups would suit the Newcastle trainer better, though passing on this week’s Scone Cup was impossible with her sharp form.
“I don’t think she’s a horse that actually lacked too much confidence, it’s just that she was probably too relaxed in the middle stages of her races,” Doyle said.
“When they started to increase the tempo in the race, she just wanted to go through the motions a little bit, but she’s bounced through the run good and I can’t fault her.
“We think she’s quite a fresh horse, so whether the two-week turnaround is a bit quick and she may need a little bit longer time will tell, but we haven’t done much with her in between.”
Churchill’s Choice’s Hawkesbury Cup marked career win number four, following her hat-trick of early successes.
The filly by Churchill placed second in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) 12 months ago on the Hawkesbury Cup undercard, and second again in the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes (1400m) resuming this time in.
Doyle arranged for Regan Bayliss’s first ride on Churchill’s Choice in the Hawkesbury Cup and desires his continuity this weekend.
“I got Regan to have a sit on her at the trials before he rode her in the Hawkesbury Cup and he felt that flat spot she can hit and he got her through that period in Hawkesbury Cup,” he said.
“He got on his bike quite early and I think that was the difference between winning the race or running a nice fourth or fifth, which is what she’d been normally doing.”
She joins 37 horses nominated for the Scone Cup, with company like back-to-back winners Tavi Time and Sky Lab, Group 2 Ajax Stakes winner Cristal Clear, Depth Of Character the previous Queensland Guineas champ, and Formal Display after three straight wins.
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