Cambridge Stud owned Joliestar (Zoustar) will have to overcome a wide draw if she’s to add a third Group One to her sparkling CV.
Chris Waller’s four-year-old mare has drawn barrier 13 of 14 in the Gr.1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
In her favour however will be the man aboard, with James Mcdonald set to reunite with the daughter of Zoustar for the first time since The Everest (1200m) in October last year.
Since then, Joliestar has won the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) under Damian Lane, while she finished a narrow second to Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto) in the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) under Zac Lloyd at her most recent run.
Chris Waller opted to freshen Joliestar for a tilt at the Brisbane Winter and skip the Gr.1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m), instead happy to give the mare a trial in between runs, which ended up with its own challenges.
With trials in Sydney washed out due to rain, a 740m trial conducted on May 22 on the Warwick Farm polytrack was forced to be used as Joliestar’s final public hitout.
“It was fine,” Waller said of the situation.
“We’ve got to learn to use polytracks and we just gave her a nice easy trial. The trial is one thing, the trip there, the day out, the trip home is probably more important than the actual trial.
“It’s just one of those necessary tools. We want good grass when we want to use the grass, we can’t have good grass and abuse it when it’s wet.
“I think you’ve got to give and take a bit and learn to do safely, keep the polytracks improving and keep educating us how to use them better because we need them.
While Joliestar finished last in the heat of eight runners, Waller said she did what she needed to before travelling to Brisbane earlier in the week.
“She had a good day out, she travelled up Monday, it gives her a week to settle in,” Waller said.
“She stayed out of trouble and had a nice easy time.”
Waller is yet to win a Kingsford Smith Cup, and alongside the Stradbroke Handicap, it is the only Group One race in Queensland – of which there are eight, that the 179-time Group One winning trainer has not yet succeeded in.
Despite the wide draw, Joliestar is a firm favourite at $3 for the Kingsford Smith Cup ahead of Giga Kick at $4.40, who has drawn barrier 10.