Exciting SA sprinter Sghirripa will kick off an ambitious spring campaign in Saturday’s $120,000 Listed Wylie Handicap (1100m) at Morphettville.
Trainers Shane and Cassie Oxlade are aiming high with the Group 3 winner and would love to chase a slot in the $20m Everest at Royal Randwick on October 19.
“We’ll get through Saturday and then make some decisions,’’ Shane Oxlade said.
“It will be either be to Melbourne for the Manikato or we go to Sydney for a race like The Shorts.
“There are so many options for him, he’s got some good form around some of the best sprinters in the country.
“A race like the Darley Sprint at the back of the carnival could be his perfect race back down the straight, but we’ll aim high, you have to have a crack, you don’t want to be sitting around in six months’ time thinking “gee, we should have had a go at that”,’’ he said.
Sghirripa has drawn perfectly in barrier six with in-form jockey Kayla Crowther back in the saddle but has to carry 61kg.
“He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do,’’ Oxlade said.
“The plan wasn’t to kick off here in Adelaide, but we didn’t have a lot of options and this over the 1100m looks an ideal starting point.
“There is certainly some improvement there, but he’s had a really good break and looks to have come back in great order,’’ he said.
The return of Sghirripa will complete a massive week for the Strathalbyn stable after stablemate Queman secures the 2023-24 South Australian Racehorse of the Year Away at the Racing SA Awards last weekend.
