Skyhook faces distance query in Silver Eagle bid

Connections of Skyhook have only one concern, a drop in distance, as the four-year-old aims to secure his fourth consecutive victory in this Saturday's $1 million Silver Eagle at Randwick.

Since adopting on-pace tactics, the four-year-old has hit a purple patch of form, winning the Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) in May and going on to win three of his next four races.

He has been undefeated in two starts this season, first winning the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) and then delivering a commanding performance in the Shannon Stakes (1500m) at his most recent outing.

However, the horse is set to race over 200 metres less in Saturday's Silver Eagle (1300m), which is his final lead-up race to the Golden Eagle (1500m) two weeks later. Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou admits this is his only reservation.

"Really happy with him, and he'll take his place in the Silver Eagle," Alexiou said.

"He's been in a really good groove all preparation. He does have to come back to 1300, which may be a little question mark with him coming back from 1500."

"But he seems to have freshened up well, so hopefully we've got a bit more speed in his legs for that."

Skyhook is positioned third in the betting for the Golden Eagle, with his odds moving to $8 after Sheza Alibi eased from $1.60 to $1.80 following a surprise defeat last Saturday. Beiwacht is the second favourite at $6.

Skyhook's stablemate Matias will be pushing his case for The Big Dance on Saturday, scheduled to race in the $160,000 Big Dance Wild Card (1600m).

Having won the Frank Packer Plate (2000m) in the autumn, Matias resumed with a promising fourth in the Cameron Handicap (1400m) at Newcastle and has since had a trial to keep him sharp.

"Hopefully he can run first or second in that race and qualify himself for a Big Dance or Little Dance," Alexiou explained.

"He went to the Cameron Handicap a little bit underdone off only one trial, but you can't run in the Wild Card if you haven't run in a qualifier, and that was his chance to run in a qualifier, so he went there with improvement to come."

Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou confirmed that the promising filly Chilly Girl has been spelled and will be targeted towards The Sunlight at the Gold Coast in January.

Will Skyhook live up to his odds in the Silver Eagle? Explore the latest racing odds at these online bookmakers.