Percy Sykes Stakes offers Screen Icon key opportunity post Slipper

Screen Icon could find silver linings in bypassing the Golden Slipper as she targets the $1 million Percy Sykes Stakes at Randwick.

Trainer John Thompson chose not to enter the filly seven days before the big two-year-old race just to guarantee entry, electing to test her luck naturally.

"I didn't run her again before the Slipper, because if I'd run her again, I wouldn't have backed up in the Slipper. It would have been too much," Thompson said.

"So I took a punt to see if she got a run, but the three late entries buggered me, and she was an emergency.

"Hopefully it's a blessing, and she is right for the Percy Sykes."

Despite wide gates in all three career starts, Screen Icon claimed strong placings in the Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) during spring and the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) on February 28 most recently.

The trainer ensured she stayed sharp with a fresh barrier test, though she coped poorly with the heavy going, now facing sounder footing at Randwick.

"She didn't like the really heavy track that she trialled on, but back on top of the ground, she'll be right," he said.

"She has got her foot on the till and the form around her is good, especially because she has been running well from bad draws."

Additionally, Thompson runs La Morra back in the Australian Oaks (2400m) off a fourth-placed effort in last week's Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m), as Flying Embers contests the Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m).

A runner-up at Wyong in her heat, Flying Embers knows this course and distance well, with Thompson confident of improvement on the larger Randwick layout.

"She's a big girl, so Wyong didn't suit, but back to Randwick she will run well," he said.

"She's a swimmer, but it doesn't matter. She goes well on dry too."

Chad Scofield has the call on Flying Embers and Screen Icon, with Regan Bayliss aboard La Morra.

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