Hugo Palmer international runners Saturday blog: 'He's really thrived in quarantine'

Royal Randwick 5.45am, Golden Eagle – Seagulls Eleven

This has been the target for this horse since he won at Glorious Goodwood, so it’s hugely exciting that it’s all gone to plan since.  Races worth this much money, ten million Australian dollars, are obviously extremely rare, so this is a massive day for me, the yard, the owners and the horse.

He travelled down earlier this month, and I’m told he’s really thrived in quarantine here, I’ve only just arrived in Sydney so am looking forward to seeing him, but I’ve seen pictures and he’s put weight and muscle on, and looks fantastic.

We’ve drawn stall three, which I’m happy with, anywhere between three and eight looks ideal, and from there, Tom Marquand has options. I don’t think we want to lead, or need to, or indeed will be able to, but from there Tom can be patient, fill him with confidence, and then ride his finish up the short Randwick straight.

As you can imagine, it’s going to be a good race, all the form Australian horses are here, and the favourite, Autumn Glow, is unbeaten and might be hard to beat, but we’re rated the same as Lake Forest, who won this last year, so it can be done. We’ll obviously find out if he’s good enough, but I do think the horse is here in as good as condition as we’d want him, and he’s ready to run a career best, and then we’ll see if that’s enough.

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