Craig Kerry
Hawkesbury trainer Marc Chevalier believes Stand My Ground is a black-type stayer in the making, but the Frenchman is equally confident the $30,000 buy can deliver his small stable a new high at 1500m in the $500,000 Four Pillars Midway at Randwick.
The four-year-old mare, which finished less than a length away when fifth in the group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill in March, will be Chevalier’s first runner in the rich race on Saturday for Midway trainers.
Stand My Ground will be first-up, following a plan Chevalier and connections hatched after she finished 15 lengths off the winner in the group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick.
“We always try to find a horse for it,” Chevalier said.
“There wouldn’t be a benchmark 68 race in the world with that prizemoney, so for us Midway trainers, it’s just the race you want to target.
“We basically made the decision three days after the Oaks.
“We had two choices. Either press on with the prep and go to Queensland for the Oaks, or give her the break, and we saw her rating was perfect for that race.
“We thought, it’s going to be a lot easier than a group 1 and the prizemoney is amazing, so we’ll go there first-up and bank some prizemoney. I think she will actually be very, very competitive.”
Chevalier, who has been training since 2021, was “quite bullish about her chances”, although a wide draw in 20 will make jockey Tyler Schiller’s task more difficult.
“She’s been sharp enough,” he said of the $13 TAB chance.
“If you watch her first trial this prep, I know she ran last, but she actually ran home in 32.8.
“She’s a mare that can be dour because she’s got a massive action, but she’s actually got pretty good acceleration.
“She won her maiden really easy over the mile, and nice and fresh, she will be very strong in that race.
“She needs strong pace, which I think we will get, being a big field, and we’ll probably make an early move, around the 600 and she’s just going to outstay them, I think.
“She’s really done well. She’s had a long break and really furnished. She looks a million dollars at the moment. The plan would be to get some black-type at some stage.”
He was looking to races like the Summer, ATC, Christmas and Australia Day cups beyond Saturday.
“She will run 2400. She just went too fast in the Oaks, and that’s why she didn’t finish off,” he said.
“A little more conservative and I think she would run the mile and a half.”
Chevalier, who has 13 horses in work and is keen to expand his stable, had his biggest win in the listed Christmas Cup with Torrens, his first runner at Randwick, in 2022.
Penrith GPDr Ule Crosson has been a major supporter of Chevalier and paid just $30,000 for the North Pacific filly at the Inglis 2024 HTBA Yearling Sale.
“We’ve had a few nice horses with him,” he said.
“Everyone’s A Star, won four in town, and he paid only $15,000 for her. He’s got a good eye for a horse and we’ve had a lot of winners together.
“We didn’t think initially that she was going to be a real stayer. She’s bred to run 1400, but she showed very quickly with that big stride and great recovery rate, that she was going to be a stayer in the making.”
Jack Pilkington-trained Alabama State, a recent Saturday Rosehill winner, was a $6.50 favourite for Saturday.
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