Everest day a prelude to Big Dance for trainer Kerry Parker

For Kerry Parker, Saturday’s Everest meeting is more about preparation than the grand final that will come in the next start for both Tampering and Hope In Your Heart.

There isn’t huge prizemoney on offer for Bathurst Cup runner-up Tampering in the Big Dance Wild Card, which runs with a view to Melbourne Cup day and the $2 million Big Dance, and Hope In Your Heart, which uses the Angst Stakes to hopefully secure a place in the $10m Golden Eagle at Rosehill on October 29.

“It’s great to be going to a big day with good chances, but we are thinking more about a couple of weeks’ time going there,” Parker said. “It is amazing to me to think [that] at her next start Hope In Your Heart could be in Golden Eagle worth $10 million. I’m just pleased to have horses like these two in the stable.”

Hope In Your Heart is looking for a hat-trick of wins after a Rosehill victory and a storming Tibbie Stakes win against the bias of the Newcastle track last month. Still, the Kembla Grange trainer knows she probably needs to run well to even get into the Golden Eagle.

“I didn’t want to take her back to the 1300m of the Silver Eagle, where the top three get in because I think they would be a bit sharp for her,” Parker said. “I thought the Angst with three weeks to be ready for the Eagle was perfect.

“It was a shame they called them off last week because it leaves a two-week gap rather than the three I had planned, but she is going super.

“She is a strong mare and I think the mile is going to be right up her alley, but she needs to run well because she probably needs a couple of benchmark points to be sure of getting into the Eagle.”

Tampering has already qualified for the Big Dance with his second in Bathurst Cup but is still a way from getting into the field in Parker’s opinion.