Gerald Ryan and Stirling Alexiou never gave up on Ellsberg after his 13th place in the Kingsford Smith Cup, and their faith was rewarded with victory in the Five Diamonds Prelude at Randwick.
The in-form five-year-old was a convincing 2.5-length winner, and as a result he could receive a well-earned spell or move on to the $2 million Five Diamonds over 1800m on November 5.
Sibaaq for Annabel Neasham was runner-up on Saturday, with the joint last-start winner of the Epsom and $2.80 favourite showing far too much class from first place on the run home.
2022 Five Diamond Prelude Replay
Ryan and Alexiou always had the Five Diamonds Prelude in mind after his Kingsford Smith Cup effort on May 28.
“We put a big red circle around this race after he went out after Queensland. To win an Epsom on the way, it’s fantastic for everyone, the owners, the stable. Just really happy,” Alexiou said.
“This was the specific race, because we still have a question mark on him over 1800m. We’ll sit on that for a couple of days before we make our minds up.”
When pressed on whether he could be competitive in the Five Diamonds, Alexiou said Ellsberg proved he could make the step up following Saturday’s very impressive performance.
“Personally, I think there’s not a problem there so we might roll the dice, but a little bit to think about. Don’t like making decisions on race day,” he said.
Winning jockey Brenton Avdulla also believes Ellsberg could step up to 1800m on November 5.
“I wouldn’t say no. I’d ride him with a sit. I probably wouldn’t lead on him but what does Gerald and Sterling say, they’ve had a good day (three winners),” he said.
Avdulla said Ellsberg had the class to have Saturday’s 1500m feature worth $1 million all but wrapped up early.
“I was happy to get control. He obviously raced so well the other day (dead-heating in the Epsom) ridden with a sit, it was a PB,” he said.
“But once I was able to get control from after a furlong, the race was his to lose in a way. Got control, let him get around the bend, skipped up down the dip and the race was all over.”
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