A $205,000 purchase from Vinery’s draft at the 2011 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, Commanding Jewel will head toward the Thousand Guineas this Spring perhaps taking on Vinery’s own Blue Diamond winner, Samaready.
Connections of the Vinery born and reared Commanding Jewel are hoping she can follow in the footsteps of her famed three-quarter-sister Atlantic Jewel after she debuted with a 12-length win in a 900m trial at Wangaratta yesterday.
Trainer Leon Corstens holds a massive opinion of Commanding Jewel and is looking towards the $500,000 Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Wednesday October 17 with her this preparation.
“Leon has a massive opinion of her in what she has shown us,” Atlantic Jewel’s managing owner Brad Spicer said.
“We are really excited with how she is going and Leon thinks she could be up to Thousand Guineas standard.”
Despite the promise of her breeding Spicer knows that Commanding Jewel still had a lot to learn before stepping up to a race like the Thousand Guineas, with a spring plan still to be mapped out.
“We actually wanted to educate her to relax in behind horses but she jumped so well and ended up leading them easily,” Spicer said of her lead-all-the-way trial win.
“We’re not sure when she’ll kick off.
“It will be either a kill in a maiden or Leon will throw her in the deep end in a Stakes race.
“We’ll just see how she comes through the trial.”
The 2012 Thousand Guineas nominations will be taken by Racing Victoria on Tuesday August 7, the same day as the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate nominations.
Meanwhile, the Mark Kavanagh-trained Atlantic Jewel also born, reared and sold by Vinery, remains undefeated in her stunning seven start career to date which includes dual Group 1 victories, the first of which was a three length win over the country’s other star filly Mosheen in the Thousand Guineas last October.
Last seen winning the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Sydney Cup Day, Atlantic Jewel is gearing up for a big Spring already dominating the markets for the 2012 Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate.
