Ambitious plans ahead for Piggyback following Rosehill success

Consistent long-distance runner Piggyback has positioned herself for a potential Group One weight-for-age challenge during autumn after a dominant performance in the Parramatta Cup at Rosehill.

Assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord to Ciaron Maher indicated various paths forward for the five-year-old mare, among them the Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill come March 28.

"There is the Randwick City Stakes in two weeks. Long-term, there is the Chairman's Handicap and Sydney Cup," Gerard-Dubord said.

"But she likes Rosehill, so a race like the Tancred would have to be considered now.

"She had no weight today, so it's a bit different, weight-for-age (in the Tancred Stakes), but she stays, and we don't know how much better she can be."

Piggyback ($3.10 fav), under Dylan Gibbons, started steadily from the rear and unleashed a perfectly timed surge to pip Bois D'Argent ($61) by a short neck, while Travolta ($4.20) was a further half-neck behind in third place.

The jockey revealed he had to curb his instinct for a closer spot, relying on the connections' knowledge that she thrives when settled deeper.

"Before I chatted to the team, I thought this was going to be pretty simple, just put her in the box seat and ride her like a good thing," Gibbons said.

"But the team knows this mare so well, and they told me she appreciates being back that couple of pairs, then being given the chance to finish off.

"It took everything in me not to give her a squeeze early and have her too close."

According to Gibbons, the mare shares traits with Ciaron Maher's 2023 Sydney Cup conqueror Explosive Jack, suggesting she could handle the staying test over two miles.

"I think she will run 3200m. She has a great attitude, she has that same big, gangly action of Explosive Jack. She settles well, and she is trained by the same camp, so she is in the right hands," Gibbons said.

Gerard-Dubord noted that while Piggyback has always hinted at ability, her brief Queensland campaign last spring proved pivotal in her development.

"She did really well last prep, especially towards the end of it," he said.

"She went to Brisbane and the trip away, mentally she had to take it up that next level, and on the back of that she won the Colin Stephen Quality.

"She is still on the way up."

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