Write Your Name and Early Crow will defend the Darwin Cup (2050m) and Palmerston Sprint (1200m) at Fannie Bay in August.
On August 5, Write Your Name will contest the $200,000 Darwin Cup, while Early Crow will line up in the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint on August 3.
During the 2023 Darwin Cup Carnival, Write Your Name and Early Crow raced for long-time NT trainer Dick Leech.
In March, Leech was disqualified for 12 months when found guilty of injecting a horse without the permission of stewards.
The suspension was imposed during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival, with the Top End’s leading trainer, Gary Clarke, agreeing to take over Leech’s stable.
Write Your Name, an eight-year-old gelding by Written Tycoon, had two starts for Clarke in the Red Centre, finishing fifth in the Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) and ninth in the Alice Springs Cup (2000m).
Early Crow, a five-year-old gelding by Kuroshio, was 10th in the Pioneer Sprint (1200m).
Write Your Name, last year’s Alice Springs Cup winner, was named Horse of the Year and Middle Distance/Stayer of the Year in Darwin and Alice Springs for 2023.
Early Crow was named Sprinter of the Year in the Top End and in the Red Centre for 2023.
A majority of Leech’s team are now with Darwin trainer Chris Pollard, while a handful remain with Clarke.
Write Your Name, victorious in an open 1200m handicap in early March before the Alice Springs Cup Carnival and Leech’s suspension, made his Darwin return on July 17 when he carried 62kg before finishing strongly for fourth in an 1100m open handicap.
To complete his Darwin Cup preparations, Write Your Name lines up in the $50,000 Metric Mile (1600m) on Saturday – the feature on Day 5 of the Darwin Cup Carnival.
“He’s a bit behind the eight ball, but he was terrific last year, and he did race on well the other day,” Thoroughbred Racing NT chief executive Andrew O’Toole said.
Early Crow was a first-up fifth in an 1100m open handicap at Fannie Bay on July 6 before he powered home to claim a narrow win at weight-for-age level over 1200m last Saturday.
Prominent NT jockey Sonja Logan missed out on riding Early Crow in last year’s Palmerston Sprint when sidelined due to injuries suffered when assaulted outside her Darwin home.
Logan piloted the gelding to victory last weekend and is booked to ride Early Crow in the Palmerston.
“He’s definitely going to be a good contender once again coming into the Sprint off his last win, that’s for sure,” Logan said.
“They went pretty hard up in front, he just tracked into the race and finished off strong.
“He finished off the way you want a nice sprinter to finish.
“He had a lot left in the tank, which is a good sign as well.
“I was meant to ride him when he won the week before the Palmerston, that’s before I was assaulted.
“Aaron Sweeney picked up the ride, and a week later he came out and won the Sprint.”
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