Group Three winner Sudbina will make her raceday return at Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday, kicking off her new campaign in the Majestic Horse Floats 1300.
A daughter of Almanzor, Sudbina won a trio of races through her three-year-old term highlighted by success in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) over subsequent Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) winner Grail Seeker.
She was also fourth behind the likes of Lupo Solitario and her high-flying stablemate Orchestral in the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) and had the same result behind Molly Bloom in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2000m).
Roger James, who prepares Sudbina in partnership with Robert Wellwood, was more than happy with her overall performance in a period of learning for both the filly and her trainers.
“I thought she had a wicked season, she’s only a wee girl and was learning her trade as she went, and we were learning about her,” James said.
“To do what she did was excellent really, she’s won a Desert Gold and fourth in a Bonecrusher, so she’s done very well.
“She’s got plenty of length and scope about her, she’s never going to be big but she’s got a decent stride on her and I think we will look to place her carefully later on, where she doesn’t have to carry too much weight.”
Sudbina brings a class factor to the Rating 75 contest where apprentice Triston Moodley will claim two kilograms off her 57-kilogram impost, in a race James sees as a nice starting point for the spring.
“She hasn’t had a trial, so whatever she does on Wednesday, you would think there would be quite a lot of improvement there, but class does often come through and she does know the synthetic having trialled on it before,” he said.
“She’s too good to not be in the hunt, but whether she can win, that’s another question.
“A mile is possibly her best distance but who knows, she’s still getting there maturity-wise and I don’t see her being a mature horse until the autumn.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
