SA trainer Nicole Irwin in Alice, Highly Decorated set for Darwin

[Wandering Eyes]

Murray Bridge trainer Nicole Irwin and leading NT jockey Sonja Wiseman after combining to win the Rose Bowl (1300m) for the fillies and mares with Valentina Star during the Darwin Cup Carnival at Fannie Bay last July. Picture: Caroline Camilleri (Darwin Photography Professionals)

First stop Alice Springs, then it’s back home before heading to Darwin.

That’s the plan for Murray Bridge trainer Nicole Irwin, who arrived in the Red Centre with six horses on Wednesday for the Alice Springs Cup Carnival starting April 8.

Irwin is a regular visitor to the NT and has enjoyed success over the years during the Alice Springs and Darwin Cup Carnivals.

Who will ever forget the feats of Highly Decorated during the 2021 Darwin Cup Carnival.

It all starts for Irwin on Saturday with four runners on the seven-event program at Pioneer Park.

Mug’s Game will feature over 1600m (0-70), Jura Mac over 1200m (0-64), Lastar over 1100m (0-58) and Italian Agent in a 1200m maiden, while Starouz and Eureka’s Victory will appear next weekend.

“Very good to be back,” Irwin said on Thursday.

“I’ve only brought six horses that I really think suit the style of racing and the track – they’ll be super competitive and I’ll just identify the races that suit.

“Obviously, Alice Springs is a very different track to Darwin, so some of these may head to Darwin as well depending on how they go here.

“Four or five years ago we brought quite a big team up – never had a huge amount of success.

“I had Stealthy Lucas here last year – he was a little bit unlucky, he didn’t get beaten far, but didn’t really run into the money.

“We started to work out what sort of horses suit what tracks and hopefully I’ve pulled the right rein this year.

“I’m bringing Masterati up for the Pioneer Sprint – he won’t come up until the week before.

“My husband David will bring him up from Adelaide – he has a good record in Darwin.

“We’re thinking about the Alice Springs Cup for Mug’s Game, but if she doesn’t quite come up to scratch there’s plenty of other options available.

“We’re giving her a run on the track, see how she handles it – she worked really well this morning.

“The plan going ahead is probably the 1900m Cup prelude on the second day of the Carnival.

“Her rating is not quite high enough to get in, so the aim is if she can win that 1900 she gets into the Cup anyhow.”

The $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) and $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) are scheduled for April 30.

Mug’s Game, a six-year-old mare, comes up against a high quality 12-horse field this weekend as most of the runners continue their Cup preparations.

The daughter of Legion had three starts in March for a 13th over 1600m (BM62) at Murray Bridge before a third over 1550m (BM62) and a fourth over 1550m (BM70) at Morphettville Parks.

“It is a good field on Saturday, it’s going to give me a good judge of how good she is,” Irwin added.

“She’s been very competitive in her last two runs in Adelaide.

“First up over a mile – probably I should have gone to a 1400 first up – but went to the mile because it was the Magic Millions race and she was eligible for the $10,000 South Australian bred award, you’ve got to have a bit of a crack.

“She pulled up fine from that – she raced three weeks in a row and just got better and better every start.

“We gave her an easy week before putting her on the truck to bring her up here, so she’ll be nice and fresh.

“I will put the blinkers back on for Alice Springs and hopefully she can jump and be right up there with them coming around the corner.”

Irwin, who won the Rose Bowl (1300m) for girls with Valentina Star during last year’s Darwin Carnival, believes Jura Mac and Italian Agent can impress on debut, but is unsure how the stable’s new arrival Lastar will perform.

Top Darwin jockeys Sonja Wiseman (Mug’s Game, Lastar and Jura Mac) and Jarrod Todd (Italian Agent) have been booked by Irwin.

“Probably the biggest unknown on the team is my new maiden horse Italian Agent – he had his first race (1000m) for us on Sunday at Murray Bridge,” she said.

“Although he ran eighth out of eight, he only got beaten five lengths and he did everything right.

“Didn’t disgrace himself, so the 1200m, a little bit further on Saturday might suit him.”

Meanwhile, Highly Decorated, who won seven races in the Top End two years ago, including the Darwin Cup, Chief Ministers Cup, ROANT Gold Cup and Adelaide River Cup, is back after suffering a tendon injury in Darwin last year.

The son of Epaulette, a six-year-old gelding these days, won first up at Fannie Bay over 1200m (BM79) last June before the injury was detected.

He returned to SA where he received Platelet Rich Plasma therapy at the Morphettville Equine Clinic in late June and after months of recuperation he is once again bound for Darwin.

“Highly Decorated is on track – he got the all clear to start fast work last week, so the plan is to definitely head up there,” Irwin said.

“He’ll probably just go to either the weight-for-age 1200 or the ROANT Cup (1300m) – if Masterati is in the ROANT then I won’t put them up against each other.

“I’ll find something else for Highly Decorated and then probably straight to the Chief Ministers (1600m) and the Cup (2050m).

“He’s been in work the whole time because the treatment schedule that you have to follow is fairly intense for the tendon rehab – it’s been a very long nine months.

“Basically, he hasn’t missed a day of work – so yeah, we were very happy he got the all clear and he’ll be very fit and ready to go by the time I head up.”

Finally, Irwin was hoping to settle in Darwin for a major portion of the year due to her frequent excursions to the Top End, but circumstances intervened with the trainer now spending more time at her Monarto stable, near Murray Bridge.

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