A couple of sharp pieces of trackwork have convinced Adrian Bott to add Reachin’ Out to Tulloch Lodge’s arsenal for the Silver Shadow Stakes. The filly will join well-performed stablemates Agrarian Girl and By Choice in the opening leg of the four-race Princess Series.
Bott indicated that they had initially considered a softer first-up target for Reachin’ Out following her two recent trials, but her work over the past week has altered their perspective.
“We originally had her pencilled in for some tougher tasks first-up, then we settled on some easier tasks after her trials,” Bott stated. “Then we saw the nominations and after her work on Saturday, we thought she deserved to kick off there.”
Bott and co-trainer Gai Waterhouse will field three of the eleven runners in the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m), a race the stable has won three times in the past 20 years, with Autumn Ballet being the most recent winner in 2023.
Agrarian Girl also kicks off her campaign in the feature race after a juvenile season with two starts, which yielded a debut win and a second to top filly Chayan in the Reisling Stakes (1200m). She was an emergency for the Golden Slipper but did not get into the field and was subsequently spelled. Bott expects her to sprint well fresh.
“Agrarian Girl, she’s a natural speed filly,” he said. “She has trialled up well on two occasions. She had limited opportunities in her two-year-old campaign, but she was really good the times we saw her.”
By Choice, a multiple stakes placegetter, will also make her seasonal return at Randwick, having been off the track since finishing third behind Saturday’s rival Pembrey in the Magic Night Stakes (1200m). Bott expects her to appreciate more distance and believes she will come into her own during the latter stages of the Princess Series in the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) and Flight Stakes (1600m).
“By Choice, she’s the most seasoned of them all,” he commented. “She will be better suited getting out to 1400 and 1600 metres this prep. She will stay in the Princess Series, but she may just find them a little sharp first time out.”
All three Tulloch Lodge fillies have drawn adjacent barriers, with Reachin’ Out, to be ridden by Regan Bayliss, in barrier six, Agrarian Girl (Tim Clark) in gate seven, and By Choice (Rachel King) in barrier eight.
Consider the racing betting markets for the Silver Shadow Stakes at Australian betting sites.
