Amelia’s Jewel to bypass 2024 All-Star Mile for another crack at The Quokka
Star mare Amelia’s Jewel will return to work next week and trainer Simon Miller has already decided which multimillion-dollar race will be her target in the autumn.
Horse Racing
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Simon Miller has confirmed West Australian star Amelia’s Jewel will stay home in the autumn before he considers a return to the east for a possible tilt at The Everest.
With the Group 1-winning mare due to return to work next week, Miller decided against another trip to Melbourne for the $4m All-Star Mile (March 16), opting to instead target the $5m The Quokka (1200m) in April.
The Perth trainer said the Melbourne autumn would come too soon for Amelia’s Jewel, who is returning from an injury sustained in the Golden Eagle last November.
Amelia’s Jewel needed stitches for a laceration to her near-fore fetlock which required her to remain under vet supervision before she was allowed to fly back to WA.
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“She’ll come back into work next week,” Miller said.
“Her action is really good. When I brought her back from Sydney I just put her into work for a week to just have a look at her in action and her attitude was perfect, so she went out on a good note.
“I just thought the autumn was too close for the All-Star Mile.
“She’d only have a few weeks off and everything went wrong in Sydney after she picked up that bug in Melbourne.
“She stayed in Sydney for a while, went straight to the vet’s from the racetrack and I just thought, ‘I don’t have the heart to get you back (to WA) then only give you a couple of weeks off and ask you to go again’.
“I thought I’d put her first.”
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Amelia’s Jewel finished a close second to Overpass in last year’s inaugural The Quokka.
She’ll again use the Group 3 Roma Cup (1100m) as her only lead-up run.
Miller said he would wait until after The Quokka before locking in Everest plans.
“We’ll get through here (first) but if all going well, we’ll go from here to Brisbane,” he said.
Last spring Amelia’s Jewel began her campaign with brilliant Group 2 wins in the Let’s Elope Stakes and Stocks Stakes before she performed below expectations in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, which preceded her misfortune in the Golden Eagle.
Originally published as Amelia’s Jewel to bypass 2024 All-Star Mile for another crack at The Quokka
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