Suparazi out to turn tables on Gringotts in The Ingham

Just over twelve months after winning the Snake Gully Cup at Gundagai, Suparazi can cap his rise through the ranks when he chases a victory in the feature race of the Sydney summer.

The gelding has been a revelation this campaign, finishing runner-up in Listed grade in Melbourne before consecutive placings behind the in-form Gringotts in the Big Dance and The Gong, both over a mile.

The pair will again clash in the $2 million The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday and Suparazi’s trainer Ben Brisbourne is hoping for a case of third time lucky.

“Gringotts has done an outstanding job in the last twelve months. Unfortunately, we’ve been improving at the same time as he has,” Brisbourne said.

“But he’s got to lug about 60 kilos again and he has had to do that at his last couple of runs now. I’m sure (trainer) Ciaron (Maher) and his team will have him in the best condition, but you’ve got to hope that maybe he is coming to the end of his prep, where we might have a bit of juice in the tank.”

While Suparazi will be lining up for his eighth run this time in, he has proven he relishes racing, scoring at Flemington eighth-up at a similar time last year.

Brisbourne says the six-year-old’s racing pattern helps his campaign longevity as he only expends energy at the end of his races.

“He seems to appreciate getting some cover and doing no work in the first half of his races and then finishing off strongly,” Brisbourne said.

“Although he’s had a number of races, he hasn’t had any gut busters and has always pulled up well. We’ve looked after him and he has looked after himself so luckily we’ve been able to have some long preparations with him.

“He pulled up super from The Gong. We gave him a week to settle back into his routine and for us to be happy he was right to push onto this race.

“He hasn’t missed a beat and his work the last two weeks has been very strong.”

Gringotts is an early $3.80 favourite for The Ingham and is one of only four horses in the field of 20 plus four emergencies at single-figure odds, along with Private Eye ($9.50), Railway Stakes winner Port Lockroy ($9) and Imintowin ($9.50).

Suparazi is a $21 chance with the winner of Saturday’s race exempt from a ballot for the Doncaster Mile.