Mark Newnham won’t be at Randwick when Sunshine Rising attempts to secure a third win for the stable in The Ingham, but he hopes to lead the celebrations with the nine-year-old’s owners in Hong Kong on Saturday night.
The Randwick trainer, who has won the race with Quackerjack and Greysful Glamour when it was known as the Villiers Stakes, has spent this week in the Asian racing mecca meeting owners ahead of Sunday’s International meeting while staying in touch with the final preparations of the former Hong Kong star for the $2 million group 2 race over 1600m.
Vincent Ho aboard Sunshine Rising – then racing as Rise High – at Sha Tin in 2019.Credit:Getty
“It just worked out; we planned to have dinner with the owners on Saturday night, so hopefully we will be watching the race a couple of times over with a smile,” Newnham said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the improvement in him on raceday.
“It’s the first time he has raced on a two-week back-up in his career, but everything he does indicates he’s enjoying being a racehorse again.
“I got on him myself last Saturday before coming up here; he feels great. He is very well and came through his return well, which was important.”
Racing as Rise High in Hong Kong, Sunshine Rising was third behind Win Bright and Magic Wand in the Hong Kong International Cup three years ago and was the horse that ended the winning streak of champion Beauty Generation at Sha Tin.
A couple of tendon injuries resulted in him being retired to New Zealand, but he was given another shot at racing and his comeback run after nearly two years in the Festival Stakes, where he closed off for fourth behind Dajraan, was pleasing.
“The main thing when he came back to racing was showing that the tendon would hold on under pressure,” Newnham said. “It did. It was a good run and he was always going to get better after such a long time out. There is definitely something to work with there.
“The way he has recovered has been good as well. I just wish we drew a gate to get a soft run on Saturday.”
Sunshine Rising has the outside barrier in The Ingham and is likely to be posted wide, but Newnham is fine with that as long as he has cover.
There looks to be genuine tempo in the race from the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trio of Surf Dancer, Dajraan and Riodini, which are all drawn wide but are likely to push forward and make the speed.
“I’ll be happy to be midfield with cover three-wide, so long as they’re going along,” Newnham said. “You wouldn’t want the leaders to get control and take the speed out of the race, but I think there looks to be enough pressure.
“He is going to be finding the line. He has quality on his side – you have to remember he has been very competitive at an international group 1 level and, although he is a little older, he still has a motor.”
Sunshine Rising has been kept safe at $15 in Ingham betting, which will ramp on Saturday given that the pre-post favourite, Nugget, is unlikely to get a start as second emergency.
The Gong winner Riodini, Huetor, Dajraan and Brutality all having claims to start favourite in a typically wide-open Randwick mile.
The horse that has been best supported in betting is Diamil, which opened $21 in places and was into $9.50 on Friday afternoon.
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