Not making the Golden Slipper lineup might work in Screen Icon’s favour while she readies for the $1 million Percy Sykes Stakes at Randwick.
Trainer John Thompson avoided racing the filly just a week before the elite two-year-old feature to force inclusion, deciding to accept whatever came her way.
“I didn’t run her again before the Slipper, because if I’d run her again, I wouldn’t have backed up in the Slipper. It would have been too much,” Thompson said.
“So I took a punt to see if she got a run, but the three late entries buggered me, and she was an emergency.
“Hopefully it’s a blessing, and she is right for the Percy Sykes.”
Wide barriers have hindered Screen Icon across her three starts, but she has secured striking seconds in the Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) last spring along with the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) on February 28.
A barrier trial has kept her tuned, despite her aversion to the heavy surface trialled on, returning now to preferable ground at Randwick.
“She didn’t like the really heavy track that she trialled on, but back on top of the ground, she’ll be right,” he said.
“She has got her foot on the till and the form around her is good, especially because she has been running well from bad draws.”
La Morra backs up for Thompson in the Australian Oaks (2400m) after fourth in the Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) recently, and Flying Embers takes on the Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m).
Having filled the placings at Wyong in qualifying, Flying Embers suits this track and distance, and expects a stronger showing on Randwick’s broader expanse.
“She’s a big girl, so Wyong didn’t suit, but back to Randwick she will run well,” he said.
“She’s a swimmer, but it doesn’t matter. She goes well on dry too.”
Flying Embers and Screen Icon get Chad Scofield in the saddle, while La Morra draws Regan Bayliss.
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