Matthew Smith expects Icebreaker to keep progressing this campaign, even if he doesn’t strike first-up in the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill.
The four-year-old notched three consecutive victories at Canberra last time in, all over 1600m, and now resumes over 1400m on Saturday.
Smith believes the gelding will improve with more ground but sees no reason he can’t be competitive straight away, especially if the track is wet.
“He has won three in a row down in Canberra and he likes wet tracks,” Smith said.
“He will win in town. I don’t know if Rosehill will be his track because he gets back and runs on, but it’s a nice race to kick him off in.
“There is a mile race at Warwick Farm a couple of weeks later and that will be perfect for him.”
Icebreaker is being targeted towards the Big Dance or Little Dance on Melbourne Cup day as Smith tries to gain qualification through races like the Nowra Cup.
“We will try to knock over a race like a Nowra Cup and get him qualified,” he said.
True Marvel, another of Smith’s runners, heads to the Brisbane Cup (3200m) off a fourth-place finish in the Sandown Cup (3200m).
“He is a nine-year-old but he’s flying,” Smith said.
“His run the other day was fantastic at Sandown. He ran fourth but he could have easily won, they just went slow.”
“He has an amazing two-mile record. He has run second in a Sydney Cup (in 2023), he’s run third in a Brisbane Cup (2023) and second in a Sandown Cup (2021).”