‘We will be going out with a bang, I know that’: Simon Miller preparing for final runs as trainer of Amelia’s Jewel

Simon Miller concedes he doesn’t know how many starts he has left with Amelia’s Jewel but is determined to make them count.

Simon Miller knows his time is coming to an end with Amelia’s Jewel, but the larrikin Perth trainer is looking to go out on a high as he prepares her for return to racing in the Group 3 Roma Cup at Ascot on Saturday.

Owner-breeder Peter Walsh announced earlier this year that his Group 1 winner would be trained out of Sydney in the spring, but that is the last thing on Miller’s mind as he looks to knock off the $5m The Quokka later this month.

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Following the same program which saw her win the Roma Cup before beaten by the finest of margins in The Quokka months ago, Amelia’s Jewel will campaign as a sprinter before pressing on to Queensland or South Australia briefly.

A bullish Miller declared the mare is going better than this time last year, and said Saturday’s $200,000 clash shapes as a “mini Quokka.”

WA superstar Amelia’s Jewel will campaign as a sprinter. Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images

“She is flying, she will run extremely well in the race because I think she is going better now than what she was 12 months ago,” he said.

“From that draw, we will just sit midfield, pop off and let her rip, which will tighten her up for The Quokka.

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“It is a mini Quokka without the eastern state horses in it pretty much.

“In the spring she will be in Sydney somewhere, I know that, so I’m just worrying about this prep at the moment.

“I’m looking at The Quokka and then we can workout what we do after that, we could potentially go to The Goodwood now that it is a million bucks.

“Brisbane is still on the radar, she will have a few runs and then focus on the next move.

“We will be going out with a bang, I know that.”

Simon Miller (right) knows his last hurrah with Amelia’s Jewel is coming up. Picture: Western Racepix

Miller revealed he put Amelia’s Jewel straight back into work in Perth following her luckless run in the $10m Golden Eagle in November, which saw her battered from pillar to post and almost fell.

While rival trainers suspected Miller was aiming up at a shock home-track Group 1 tilt in December, the trainer said it was routine.

“I was lucky, when she came home I put her into work for a week just to see how her action and attitude was,” Miller said.

“So she’s there having a spin around the track and everyone thought I was aiming up at the Winterbottom, I just wanted to have a look at her but.

“She was great, we got pretty lucky out of that race.”

While Damian Lane will ride Amelia’s Jewel in a fortnight’s time, jockey Patrick Carbery will ride her on Saturday, where she is a $1.85 chance with TAB.

Originally published as ‘We will be going out with a bang, I know that’: Simon Miller preparing for final runs as trainer of Amelia’s Jewel