There might be pressure associated with taking over the training of a boom horse and Group One winner, but Annabel Neasham wouldn’t have it any other way.
Neasham and her recently anointed training partner Rob Archibald will take the shackles of brilliant mare Amelia’s Jewel in the Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday, the five-year-old’s first start for the yard since transferring to Sydney from Ascot horseman Simon Miller.
Winning nine of her first 11 outings, including the 2022 Northerly Stakes (1800m) at Ascot and claiming Pride Of Jenni’s scalp in last year’s Stocks Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley, Amelia’s Jewel has long carried the weight of expectation.
But having not quite reached her usual lofty standards at her past few runs, including her lone and luckless Sydney appearance in last year’s Golden Eagle (1500m) when she finished out of the placings, the jury is out.
Neasham is happy to be the one staring down the challenge of returning Amelia’s Jewel to her best, and while she admits the mare still has some questions to answer in Sydney, the trainer has seen enough to be optimistic she can.
“I suppose there is a little bit of pressure there,” Neasham said.
“But I’d rather see her in our stable than someone else’s
“She has only had the one run here, which was a bit of a disaster, so she has still got to prove that she is as good going the Sydney way.
“But I see no reason why not, she is so straightforward.”
Amelia’s Jewel has shaped well in two recent trials, particularly her latest when posting a 1000m win at Hawkesbury under race jockey Tommy Berry.
Keen to see the mare clicked into gear, Neasham was heartened by her response, said and the technology readings on Amelia’s Jewel heart-tracker backed that up.
“We wanted to give her a bit of a squeeze because to me, she still looked a bit pretty,” Neasham said.
“But Tommy said he gave her a squeeze and he didn’t expect her to just instantly be there. The heartrate tracker on her was really good – Simon Miller had said she’s got very good readings on her heartrate tracker, and I looked at it after the trial and I see what he means.
“You will see in the yard on the weekend that she has still got a bit of tightening up to do. But that’s how we like to start them, so we’ve still got something to work with for the rest of the campaign.”
Despite the improvement to come, Amelia’s Jewel does have an outstanding fresh record with four wins from five first-up runs.
She has drawn barrier eight in the field of 14 plus two emergencies, her rivals headed by topweight Kovalica, Missile Stakes runner-up Arctic Glamour and her Neasham and Archibald-trained stablemate My Oberon.