Amelia’s Jewel has holiday cut short after putting on too much weight as Annabel Neasham takes over training
Amelia’s Jewel was enjoying her time in the paddock too much, forcing connections to put her back into work. And one spring major has already been ruled out.
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Amelia’s Jewel’s owner Peter Walsh has ruled out a tilt at The Everest as he expected jockeys to clamour for the ride on former West Australian mare as she settles in to life with Annabel Neasham.
Walsh revealed they were forced to cut Amelia’s Jewel’s spell at Segenhoe Stud short after she piled on the weight following an aborted autumn campaign which resulted in her worst career run in the Group 1 Goodwood in Adelaide.
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A campaign targeting middle distance races in the spring is on the cards for the Group 1 winner, however Walsh said he is yet to talk to Neasham about what her preparation could look like.
“She had a good spell, she put on 48 kilos, we were going to give her six weeks in the paddock but she got too fat, she puts it on,” Walsh said.
“Peter O’Brien at Segenhoe looked after her.
“She has been Annabel’s stable for three weeks, she did three weeks with the pre trainers before that.
“I got a video the other day and she looks absolutely magnificent, so we have our fingers crossed.
“We aren’t thinking about The Everest or anything like that, I’m going to leave it to Annabel to be honest, hopefully she fits in those middle distance races.”
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Only Patrick Carbery and Damian Lane have ridden Amelia’s Jewel in her career to date, however she could get a new jockey with Walsh saying he is keen to have a local rider.
“Obviously we need to pick a jock as well, I have no thoughts on it but I will talk to Annabel,” he said.
“It will probably be a Sydney-based jockey, but that is probably the number one thing at the moment.”
Walsh said there were no regrets in sending his pride and joy east, after enjoying a golden start to her career under Simon Miller in Perth.
“There are no regrets sending her over there, we left her here longer than we thought we would because I always said with these horses that do well, we have to get them over east to get that black type because it means a lot in the breeding barn,” he said.
“We couldn’t keep bringing her back and forwards, the only reason we brought her back last time was because she got injured in the Golden Eagle.
“We had The Quokka here, so we had a crack at it, but in hindsight I think those two sprint races here flattened her a bit, so then she flew east again and floated to Adelaide where she was very disappointing, it was probably the worst run she has put in.”
Walsh is expecting a full brother or sister to Amelia’s Jewel to hit the ground later this year, with the Perth-based breeder revealing his mare Bumbasina is in foal to Siyouni again.
Originally published as Amelia’s Jewel has holiday cut short after putting on too much weight as Annabel Neasham takes over training
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