‘I was in trouble early’: Simon Miller at a loss to explain Amelia’s Jewel’s poor run in Toorak Handicap

Simon Miller was at a loss to explain Amelia’s Jewel’s flop in the Toorak Handicap, which has seen her ease in Cox Plate betting.

Trainer Simon Miller is as perplexed as anyone as to the poor performance of his star are Amelia’s Jewel and he’s looking for answers. Picture: Vince Caligiuri–Getty Images

Any hopes of glamour mare Amelia’s Jewel racing on into the spring hang with vets investigations as connections look to thoroughly check the four-year-old before deciding whether to proceed into the spring or pull up stumps.

After turning in the worst performance of her career, in fact the only time she has not finished first or second, trainer Simon Miller is looking for answers.

As Miller and owner Peter Walsh jetted back to Perth they were left scratching their heads after the mare pulled up well following the race however a barrage of tests now await in an effort to find answers.

Following her lacklustre performance in the Toorak finishing ninth Amelia’s Jewel has now slid down the markets on the Cox Plate from $5 to $13 and she’s out to $7 for the Golden Eagle, but where to next depends on what the vets say this week.

It had also been touted that a possible Group 1 Empire Rose appearance could be on the cards and despite her failure on Saturday the West Aussie remains a firm $3.50 favourite for that race, which is run on the same day as the $10m Golden Eagle.

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Trainer Simon Miller was at a loss to explain Amelia’s Jewel’s lacklustre performance in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield.

The West Australian mare enjoyed a nice cart into the race, travelled behind the winner Attrition, but “whacked away” in the straight to run a disappointing ninth, beaten 5½ lengths.

Miller said Amelia’s Jewel walked into the Caulfield mounting yard “revved too high”, potentially due to the large crowd atmosphere, music and broadcast helicopter buzzing overhead.

“I was in trouble early when she jacked up coming into here (mounting yard) … she just walked too hard around and it wasn’t until Frosty (Damian Lane) got on she started to relax,” Miller said.

ATTRITION KICKS BACK TO WIN THE TOORAK HANDICAP! 🔥

BEAU MERTENS AND MITCH FREEDMAN GET THEIR FIRST GROUP 1!@Freedmanmitch@beau_mertenspic.twitter.com/RUOcXIRITE

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 14, 2023

“Maybe by then she ran her race … he (Lane) thought he was going to pop off the winner, we were going better than it, but the winner dropped gears and we whacked away.”

Miller and connections held Cox Plate or Golden Eagle ambitions for Amelia’s Jewel but future plans now hinge on her recovery.

“Her action is good, he (Lane) just said she wasn’t the same horse,” Miller said.

“See if we can find out what’s gone wrong, whether the track record at The Valley zapped her, but at home she gave no indication of that.

“She played up a fair bit today, which isn’t really her … maybe that was a telltale sign, I don’t know. There will be a reason.”

TAB price assessors pushed Amelia‘s Jewel’s price out from $5 to $13 in the wake of her disappointing performance.

Lane said there was no obvious reason for the four-year-old’s first unplaced run.

“She was clearly disappointing for no obvious reason as yet,“ Lane said.

“We’ll have to she how she pulls up and make an assessment from there.”

Amelia’s Jewel (right, red and green silks) finished ninth as a short-priced favourite in the Toorak Handicap. Picture: Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images

Alligator Blood’s dominant win in the Group 1 Might And Power (2000m) earned him a promotion in Cox Plate betting.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Alligator Blood moved to the second line of the Cox Plate market at $7 behind Hong Kong galloper Romantic Warrior.

Sydney mare Fangirl firmed from $11 to $9 after defeating Melbourne star Mr Brightside in the King Charles Stakes at Randwick.

Mr Brightside eased from $6 to $8 after his first defeat of the spring in the $5m event.

Triple Group 1 winner Militarize remained unchanged at $9 despite missing a place when favourite in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

A slow start ended the Chris Waller-trained colt’s chances of notching a fourth Group 1 win before Militarize made ground in the straight to finish fifth, more than four lengths from the winner.

While Militarize was a beaten favourite, jockey Joao Moreira found the positives in the valuable colt’s effort.

“He didn’t have that early speed that I needed to put himself into a prominent position,” Moreira said.

“Considering he got that far back and hit the line into a good fifth, I would call it a really good run.”

- with Brad Waters

Originally published as ‘I was in trouble early’: Simon Miller at a loss to explain Amelia’s Jewel’s poor run in Toorak Handicap