She Will Reign (Image: Bradley Photos)
Winx wasn't the only Sydney-sider to slip into Melbourne on Thursday morning, with Gary Portelli confirming that his star filly She Will Reign had arrived in ideal shape ahead of Friday night's Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley.
The trainer reported that the Golden Slipper winner handled the 10-hour truck ride from Warwick Farm to Flemington extremely well and she would be given a quiet 24 hours before the $500,000 contest under lights.
The daughter of Manhattan Rain has matured physically since her dominant juvenile campaign but Portelli believes she'll need to be at her best to topple proven older sprinters Russian Revolution, Malaguerra and Sheidel.
"It was her first trip away from home and I was concerned because it was 10 hours but she put her head straight into the feed bin and she's as bright as a button," Portelli said.
"She's 40kg heavier than what she was when she won the Slipper so she's definitely come on physically.
"She's developed but she needed to because you see it so often when a champion two-year-old doesn't come back as a champion three-year-old.
"We're actually going even further and taking on the champion four and five-year-olds."
She Will Reign will use the Moir to tune up for next month's $10 million Everest but Portelli allayed any fears the filly would be underdone first-up, suggesting she'd come on well from a slick trial win at Rosehill on September 19.
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy partnered her in that trial and again takes the reins in the Group 1 feature.
"I didn't want her coming here underdone and having her flat second-up so she's pretty fit, I don't think there will be much improvement," he said.
"From barrier eight we have a couple of options and at least we are not going to be bottled up on the fence.
"We've got a champion jockey on, she's got 50kg on her back and if she's good enough she'll be there."
And while he was hesitant to lock in any targets after The Everest, Portelli said the G1 Manikato Stakes (1200m), G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) and the G1 Darley Classic (1200m) could be options for She Will Reign later in the spring.
"We're not going to tax her too much because she had a long campaign as a two-year-old on the Heavy tracks," he said.
"We've thrown nominations in for everything, she's in the Manikato and she's in the Darley but she'll tell us what we do with her.
"I don't want to be one of those trainers that went to the well too often, I want to look after this filly and it's all ahead of her because I think she's going to be a fantastic later three-year-old and four-year-old."