Oaks placegetter in 2025 Brisbane Cup tune-up at Caulfield

Matthew Smith is looking to Brisbane and beyond with talented mare Aethelflaed, who resumes her campaign at Caulfield in Saturday’s MRC Chairman’s Club Handicap (2000m).

That run will serve as a stepping stone toward a 2400m assignment in Queensland before her grand target, the Group 2 Brisbane Cup (3200m) at Eagle Farm on June 14.

Smith is also hopeful that Aethelflaed can make her way back to Melbourne in the spring for races like the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.

She had been shaping as a spring Cups contender in 2023 before suffering a tendon injury after finishing runner-up to Zardozi in the Group 1 Victoria Oaks (2500m).

“I’ve now got to try and get her into this year’s Cups seeing what Zardozi did last year,” Smith said.

“I’m excited to see what she might do over two miles. I think she’s a genuine two-miler.

“She needs some racing to get her rating up to 100, and you never know what might happen.”

Her comeback began with a victory in a 2000m Class 1 at Canberra on April 18. While the win was promising, Smith noted she’d had a strong base heading into it.

“It was a good effort, but she was in work for a while to be fair and she had a good base on her,” Smith said.

“We wanted to go somewhere to try and get a win and thankfully she was eligible for a Class 1 and it got a run into her.

“She’ll run a race on Saturday, but I expect them to be too sharp for her, but then she’ll go 2400 metres and then she’ll step up to 3200 metres into the Brisbane Cup as well.”

True Marvel is also on the Brisbane Cup path after finishing fifth behind Smokin’ Romans in the Warrnambool Cup (2350m).

His next target is the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) on May 17, which provides a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup (3200m).