Go Indy Go earns shot at Sydney carnival

Tuesday 15 April 2014, 4:37pm

A race fall cost Gamblin' Guru the chance to compete in the Australian Derby but Adelaide trainer Leon Macdonald will still get the chance to plunder a Sydney Group One with Go Indy Go.

The two-year-old filly earned a shot at the Champagne Stakes with her decisive win in Saturday's South Australian Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m).

She will travel from Adelaide on Wednesday to be prepared for the 1600m Champagne Stakes on Saturday week.

"She looked really good winning the Sires' and Chad Schofield has been booked to ride her in the Champagne," Macdonald said.

"She lived up to what we expected and I believe she can measure up."

Go Indy Go registered two second placings in stakes races before her win and appreciated the step up to 1400 metres.

She is a full-sister to Group Two-placed sprinter Essay Raider but gets her stamina from her dam side.

The filly is the second foal from Zabeel mare Elegant Eagle who is a full-sister to Golden Eagle, the dam of the Macdonald-trained Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed.

Macdonald, who was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame last month, has been selective in the horses he has brought to Sydney in the past.

The first was Gold Guru who beat Might And Power to win the 1998 Ranvet Stakes then lowered the colours of Tie The Knot in the Derby.

Gamblin' Guru is closely related to Gold Guru and had been on track for an Australian Derby start before a fall on March 10 in which his rider Clare Lindop suffered serious rib injuries.

The gelding beat Tupac Amaru to win the Geelong Classic on a heavy track in the spring with Tupac Amaru's second placing to Criterion on Saturday confirming the Derby as the one that possibly got away.

While the Derby was being run, Gamblin' Guru was at Morphettville where he won the Group Three Port Adelaide Guineas.

"With the wet track and looking at the result of the Derby, he would have been very competitive," Macdonald said.

"He will go to the South Australian Derby and then possibly to the Queensland Derby."

– AAP

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