Bonny mare Sunshine In Paris endured a mixed bag of fortunes last spring and her trainers are hoping for a case of second time lucky as she again heads down an Everest route.
The five-year-old posted a brilliant first-up win in the 2023 Sheraco Stakes to earn selection for an Everest slot, only to suffer a campaign-ending setback and miss the $20 million feature.
She is set to kick-start her latest preparation in Saturday’s renewal of the fillies and mares’ feature at Rosehill where co-trainer Annabel Neasham is hoping she can repeat the result of 12 months ago and earn a second shot at the Everest cherry.
“The way she is moving and working and trialling, I think she is as good as ever, if not a bit better, just off what we have seen of her at home,” Neasham said.
“She is probably going to need to be better to go on and hopefully win a race like The Everest.
“We’re just hoping to get her there. Last year she had a setback and it was disappointing.”
John Camilleri, who races Sunshine In Paris, is an Everest slot holder and provided he is pleased with her form, she is the frontrunner to represent him in the sprint.
Neasham admits that does take the pressure off given the competition to audition for one of only 12 berths in the race.
“The pressure is off a bit now in that she has got a spot if she’s ready for it and showing she is up for it,” she said.
“We’ll just very much work backwards from that. The weekend is the starting point, but she is there to win as well.”
Sunshine In Paris has been given two barrier trials to prepare for her return, along with an exhibition gallop with stablemate Lady Laguna at Randwick last Saturday.
The latter was also slated to run in the Sheraco Stakes (1200m) but wasn’t among the acceptances with Neasham’s training partner Rob Archibald confirming the Group 1 winner had succumbed to a temperature.
“She had a very minor setback unfortunately, she spiked a little temperature,” Archibald said.
“It’s early in her preparation so we’ll be cautious, get her right and aim for some targets down the line and reassess. Hopefully it doesn’t set her back too far.”
Archibald said they would look to reroute Lady Laguna towards a race like The Invitation (1400m) at Randwick on October 26, or possibly take her to Melbourne for a late-spring cameo.
