The Summer Cup headlines the Boxing Day meeting at Randwick and Chris Waller will saddle up three runners.
When Polly Grey travelled across the Tasman to join the Chris Waller stable, she had six wins to her name but only one at stakes level.
In the 20 months since then, she has gone on to record another four feature race victories and she will get the chance to make it five in Sunday’s Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m) at Randwick.
The mare showed she had returned in great order with a strong second-up win in the ATC Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on November 27, defeating stablemate Mightybeel who has subsequently franked the form with his Christmas Cup triumph.
Her record indicates the 2000 metres is her sweet spot and the stable has waited patiently for Saturday’s assignment.
“Polly Grey has been kept fresh since her good win last start,” Waller said.
“We would be hoping for a little bit of rain over Christmas for her.
“She’s well and she certainly runs well at the 2000 metre distance.”
So You Win returns to Sydney for the first time in over a year having done his recent racing in Queensland.
A last start winner over the Summer Cup distance at Doomben, the gelding has earned his ticket south and Waller says mixing things up for his older horses is a great way to keep them interested.
“Like us, they like a trip away and they like a change of scenery,” he said.
“He won up there last start and has been a great performer for the stable and he gets his chance back in Sydney.
“The beauty of stables in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney is simply that you find the right races for them when they’re ready and they can quite often surprise.”
Waller is also trying a fresh tactic with Order Again, who has failed to feature in two runs from a spell.
Having been trained as a miler for several seasons, Order Again will step up to a middle distance for the first time since winning the 2017 Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) in Brisbane when trained by Brian Smith.
“This is the first time we have tried him at 2000 metres in a long time, but he deserves his opportunity in this type of race,” Waller said.
A final field of 11 was paid up for the Summer Cup on Wednesday with Stockman opening favourite at $3.80.
Polly Grey is considered Waller’s leading hope at $4.80 with So You Win at $14 and Order Again a $16 chance.